Assessment of an educational program for adolescents about organ donation and transplantation.

The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an educational program in 157 students with a mean age of 15.36 years at three schools in Malaga. The program included the evaluation of two tests before and after four sessions in an intervention group as compared with a control group. The educational program on organ donation and transplantation led to very positive changes, raising the level of awareness and the number of persons prepared to donate their organs and those of their relatives, as well as the number of participants who discussed the matter at home. Finally, evaluation of this experience showed that inclusion of education about organ donation and transplantation in secondary education can be considered positive.

[A questionnaire to assess school social climate]. / Un cuestionario para evaluar el clima social del centro escolar.

A questionnaire to assess the school social climate (CECSCE) made from items of The California School Climate and Safety Survey is presented. The CECSCE displays a stable factorial Oblimin structure in two social climate factors: 1) relative to the school and 2) relative to the teaching staff. Both factors present a correlation that oscillates between 0.42 and 0.48; and they explain 54,2% and 45,6% of the variance, respectively. Its reliability test-retest is acceptable (r= 0.61) after 9 months. Both factors present gender differences in favour of girls. They also differentiate at the educational level, displaying in 2 masculine course higher means in both factors than in 3 masculine course. The second factor correlates positively with the factors that measure social competence in the Merrell School Social Behaviour Scales and negatively with those that measure antisocial and non adapted behaviour.

Organ donation: a comparison of donating and nondonating families.

The family interview to determine the wishes of the deceased during life about organ donation is not only a legal requirement, it is also the stage at which most potential donors are lost. Minimizing these losses necessitates awareness of all the variables involved in the family interview so that, before starting the interview, one understands the important key points affecting the outcome. We showed that some variables among 268 interviews are susceptible to intervention: the information and treatment perceived by the family members during the hospital stay and the preparation of the interview, such that a suitable number of the closest members of the family with a decision capacity is always present. Other noncontrollable factors that are important in the final decision included the social and demographic level, the prosocial attitude of the deceased, and prior knowledge and opinions about organ donation. Informative events within the hospital to improve the predisposition and collaboration of health care professionals were key to improving the public's perception of organ donation and achieving greater confidence in health care centers and their staff. Furthermore, the family interview must be planned by the transplant coordinators to limit improvisation.

Multifactorial snowball effect in the reduction of refusals for organ procurement.

Interviewing the family of a possible organ donor is a legal requirement in Spain, but it is the stage at which most potential donors are lost. Multiple factors influence the family's acceptance or rejection of this option, including awareness of the wishes of the deceased, personal preconceived attitudes of family members, as well as issues related to the hospital and its health care personnel, whose attitudes are a key factor in obtaining permission. We examined all 651 donation situations in a single hospital that included a family interview over the last 15 years. Among these 651 cases, 191 families refused donation (29.3%). The rate of donation refusal has fallen from 46.3% to 12.5% over these 15 years. To better understand the evolution of donor characteristics, interviewees, and the setting, we divided the sample into three 5-year periods to analyze key variables collected from the family interviews. The results showed that at the same time as the donor profile has changed, namely, fewer brain trauma cases and more victims of stroke as well as older mean age and more coexistent diseases, these has been an improvement in the factors related to the information and opinion of both the families and the donor about this process. The main reasons for refusal of donation have changed from negation of brain death, religious factors, and the desire to maintain the body intact during the 1990s, to sociocultural reasons in minority ethnic groups, to presumed refusal during life, and to family disagreements during the more recent years.

Hemispheric differences in global and local processing with orientation classification tasks.

Hemispheric differences in global and local processing were examined in one experiment with hierarchical stimuli. The figures consisted of large squares with the right or left side missing made up of small squares with the right or left side missing. The subjects were asked to decide the opening (left/right) of the square either at the global level or at the local level. The findings showed that with the task and stimuli used here global judgements were as fast and accurate as local judgements, the interference was bidirectional and symmetrical and, finally, that the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere had the same ability to manage with global and local information. So, the experiment does not provide evidence for hemispheric specialisation in global and local processing.

Discriminant variables between organ donors and nondonors: a post hoc investigation.

CONTEXT: Few studies in organ donation have focused on the attitudes and opinions of families who were asked to donate the organs of a deceased relative. OBJECTIVE: To determine what variables influenced a family's decision to donate. DESIGN: Post hoc investigation using a survey. SETTING: Málaga, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-one people who had been approached for the donation of their deceased relatives' organs at a single hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Consent to donate. RESULTS: Based on a stepwise discriminant function analysis, the following variables played a determining role in a family member's decision to donate: (1) the expressed wish of the deceased, (2) having a clear understanding of the definition of "brain death." (3) the manners and approach of the doctors, (4) the hospital facilities, (5) concerns regarding the donation process, and (6) educational level. CONCLUSION: Prodonation campaigns geared toward the public and hospital staff should focus on specific objectives to increase the likelihood of consent for organ donation.

Hemispheric differences in global and local processing dependent on exposure duration.

The main purpose of the present experiment was to examine hemispheric differences in the analysis of global and local components of verbal hierarchical stimuli, by manipulating the parameters of the procedure, in the form of varying duration exposures (50, 100 and 200 msec). Subjects had to decide whether or not a target-letter appeared in the stimuli. The results provide evidence that the cerebral hemispheres may differ in their ability to process global and local information, but only under certain conditions. A RH-LVF advantage in accuracy rate was found in the detection of the target at global level and a LH-RVF advantage in the detection of the target at local level, but only with a presentation of 50 msec. At 100 and 200 msec of exposure duration, differences between the two hemispheres were not found.