Cognition on cadaver donation and its influencing factors among residents in Henan province

Objective To examine the cognition on cadaver donation and its related factors among residents in Henan province for the promotion of body donation.Methods Totally 1 108 urban and rural residents in 15 municipalities of Henan province were selected with stratified random sampling and surveyed with a self-designed questionnaire anonymously between December 2015 and March 2016.Results Of all the respondents,58.48% (648) and 21.93% (243) knew the purpose and procedure of cadaver donation;while only 19.31%(214)knew the authority agencies responsible for the implementation of cadaver donation and 17.6%(195)reported the willingness to donate their remains.Main influencing factors for cadaver donation reported by the respondents were traditional concepts (mentioned by 76.90%852 of the respondents),incomprehension on the issue (62.09%,688),disagreement of family members (48.01%,532),distrust in relevant authority agencies (38.63%,428),without the expectation of receiving social recognition (33.39%,370),and the imperfection of relevant laws and regulations (30.23%,335).The ratio of reporting the willingness of cadaver donation was significantly higher among the male respondents than among the female (χ²=6.488,P<0.05)and among the respondents aged 18-30 years and >60 years than among those at other ages (χ²=27.229,P<0.05);the willingness of cadaver donation was positively correlated with education level among the respondents (χ²=24.744,P<0.05).Conclusion Insufficient development of cadaver donation may restrict the improvement of medical and health service at some extent in China.