Every transplantation system is dependant on organ donation and organ donators. Expanding the number of organ donators and planning for future development requires an evaluation of previous programs and knowledge about the system’s situation. We reviewed here the trend of organ donation volunteers and their characteristics .We used Iran_Ehda database for analysis. It is a website, available at www.ehda.ir, which works in recruitment of organ donation volunteers. The site is managed by organ procurement unit of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran. We used descriptive analysis to evaluate the trend of organ donation volunteers during its three years of activity. The number of annual registrations has been increased from 10838 in 2005 to 30305, 70117 and 70359 in 2006, 2007 and September 2008, respectively. It is roughly a 100% annual increase. Regarding the gender difference, in 2005 the number of male and females were the same. In 2006, female constituted 52.4% of volunteers. In 2007 and 2008 it reached to 54.8% and 55.9% of newly registered cases. Regarding the education level of volunteers, 45.7% of the volunteers have diploma or lower degrees in 2005. This figure reached to 50.5%, 53% and 53.2% in 2006, 2007 and 2008; respectively. Our study showed the policy of recruitment of organ donation volunteers using our website was very successful. Doubling the number of registration each year bears a testimony to this. We also found that women gradually increase their share in volunteering for organ donation. We also found that the program is getting more and more popular even among those without a university education.
Volume : 6
Issue : 4
Pages : 69
Transplant Research Center, Massih Daneshvari Hospital, Darabad-Niavaran, Tehran, Iran.