Fear of death and willingness to consider organ donation among medical students
Strenge, H.
Psychotherapie Psychosomatik Medizinische Psychologie 49(1): 23-28
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0937-2032 PMID: 10081298 Document Number: 499606
The present study represents an attempt to examine the relationship of fear of death and willingness to consider organ donation. A group of 124 medical students, 72 entering and 52 graduating from university, aged 19-37 years, completed a fear of death and dying scale (FVTS of Ochsmann) and a questionnaire about behavioral and attitude variables concerning organ donation. There were no significant sex and age differences on the FVTS in the total sample. 1st-year medical students had higher scores for the fear of meeting death related to lacking experiences with dying friends or patients. Selected item analyses for focus groups of students, who were for or against organ donation, had reservations about donation or had signed an organ donor card, revealed only a few significant differences on the FVTS. Both students without donor card and with reservations about donation scored significantly higher for fear of physical destruction. Organ donor card holders, however, scored significantly lower and accepted autopsy and anatomic dissection of their corpses twice as frequently as the others. Possible implications of these findings for medical education and future research are addressed.