이종장기이식에 대한 우리나라 국민들의 인식 조사*

The telephone survey was conducted to investigate the opinions and attitudes of Koreans on organ xenotransplantation. Ten items were developed for this survey. Participants of this study was randomly selected in proportion to 2004 Korean census. Data from five hundred adults were analyzed with SPSS 12.

The results showed that 61.6% of the respondents were positive for organ xenotransplantation while 30.8% of them were negative. After they were informed about benefits and risks, however, 49.0% of the respondents addressed the study on organ xenotransplantation should continue while 42.8% of them indicated the study be prohibited. Approximately fifty three percent of the respondents were against the con-position on organ xenotransplantation based on animal rights, but 44.2% of them agreed with the con-position. In addition, 53.0% of the respondents were for the gene transformation of pigs to obtain organs avoiding human immune rejection response. If organ xenotransplanation is safe, 64.0% of the respondents indicated that they would get the transplantation surgery and 71.0% of the respondents pointed out they would recommend it for their family members and relatives. Male persons are more positive than female on animal experimentation for organ xenotransplantation and the gene transformation of pigs, but 65.7% of male respondents and 58.0% of female respondents were positive for organ xenotransplantation. There were no significant differences according to different religions.

Therefore, we concluded that Koreans have more positive attitudes than negative ones to organ xenotransplantation and animal experimentations to develop organs for that transplantation. However, the change in participant’s attitudes following informed benefits and risks suggests that the key issue is to reduce risks in organ xenotransplantation.