Parental attitudes toward organ transplantation.

We investigated parental attitudes toward organ donation by surveying the parents of 106 children attending a general pediatric, cystic fibrosis, hematology or nephrology clinic using a printed questionnaire. Only 64% of parents knew that cessation of brain function is the definition of death. Most people (73%) obtained information about organ transplantation from the mass media and significantly fewer (37%) from medical personnel (P less than 0.05). Blacks were less likely than whites to express a desire to be living-related and/or cadaveric donors (P less than 0.05).