Hospital-based multicenter study in Spain, Mexico and Cuba on attitudes to living liver donation

Given the lack of a sufficient number of livers available for transplantation, living liver donation (LLD) is being developed in the Spanish-speaking world. To do this, it is essential that health workers in hospitals are in favor of such donation, given that they are a key component in this treatment and that their attitudes influence public opinion. To analyze attitude toward LLD among hospital personnel from healthcare centers in Spain and Latin America. Ten hospitals were selected from the «International Donor Collaborative Project»: 3 from Spain, 5 from Mexico and 2 from Cuba. Random sampling stratified by type of service and job category was used. Attitudes to LLD were evaluated through a validated questionnaire on psychosocial aspects. The questionnaire was anonymous and self-administered. Statistical tests consisted of Student's T test, the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Of the 2,618 employees surveyed, 85% (n=2,231) were in favor of related LLD; of these, 31% (n=804) were in favor of unrelated LLD. No association was found between the country of the interviewed, personal-social variables or work-related variables. The following factors were associated with a favorable attitude toward related LLD donation: having had personal experience of donation and transplantation (P