Background : Living doner liver transplantation (LDLT) has been acknowledged as a significant treatment for patients with an end-stage liver looking to beat the deficiency of organs and the holding up the mortality because of the waiting time. The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and willingness for the organ donation in the population of Kashan.

Methods : The study population included 1026 participants from Kashan, Iran. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items designed to measure the participants’ knowledge (10 item, 10 scores), attitudes (10 item, 10 scores), and willingness to LDLT (binary yes/no). The study assesses the relationship between knowledge and attitudes about LDLT and willingness to donate. A logistic regression model was used to find out which factor (knowledge or attitudes) is associated with whether or not someone is willing to donate. We adjusted for age, gender and education level.

Results : The response rate of the questionnaire was 63.3%. The mean public knowledge of the participants was 2.23 ±1.7, attitude score mean was 3.4 ±2.2. 76.3% of the participants were not willing to donate. Regression analysis showed that knowledge is an independent factor that changes the equation towards the willingness to donate with the odds ration of 1.6 (confidence interval 1.1-5.2) and attitude is also an independent and significant determinants of the willingness with the odds ration of 2.9 (confidence interval 1.8-6.9).

Conclusions : We conclude that regardless of age, sex, and educational status of the potential doners, both attitude and knowledge can be considered important factors that can have considerable effects on the willingness for donation. Healthcare system should aim the improvements in those aspects to overcome the waiting list mortality.