ABSTRACT

Purpose: The major limitation to the progress of allotransplantation has been the limited number of organ donors. One of the options being considered to alleviate this short-fall is xenotransplantation (XTx). Progress in the experimental laboratory and the greater possibility of clinical trials necessitates exploration of the public’s perceptions and attitudes regarding the procedure for individual programs. Such explorations are especially needed for subpopulations that influence public response to major ethical issues. The purpose of the current work was to determine attitudes and perceptions about XTx among South Korean Christian seminary students.Method: After IRB approval, undergraduate and graduate theology students were contacted via text message and invited to participate; a sample of n = 123 agreed and were primarily graduate single males between the ages of 19–39.Findings: They had a highly positive attitude toward human organ transplantation (M = 4.5; 1 to 5 scale), with an overall neutral attitude toward pig organ transplantation (M = 2.9). Multiple Linear Regression found that religious belief was the strongest factor negatively associated with their XTx acceptance level (p = .01), followed by psychosocial concerns (p = .03), and medical results (p = .04).Conclusions: Given the descriptive statistics showing the lack of understanding about transplantation-related issues, the impact of their religious belief should be interpreted cautiously. Acomprehensive overview of the findings suggests. XTx is apublic policy issue, and not just amatter of personal religious beliefs, psychosocial concern, or medical risk. South Korean religious communities have an important role to play in the acceptance of biomedical technology to ensure that greater numbers of society perceive benefit and support its existence.

摘要

目的： 同种异体移植进展的主要限制是器官捐赠者的数量有限。正在考虑减轻这种不足的选择之一是异种移植 (XTx)。实验实验室的进步和临床试验的更大可能性需要探索公众对个别项目程序的看法和态度。对于影响公众对重大伦理问题的反应的亚群，这种探索尤其需要。当前工作的目的是确定韩国基督教神学院学生对 XTx 的态度和看法。方法： 在IRB批准后，通过短信联系本科和研究生神学学生并邀请他们参加；一个 n = 123 的样本同意并且主要是 19-39 岁之间的毕业单身男性。结果： 他们对人体器官移植持高度积极的态度（M = 4.5；1 至 5 级），对猪器官移植持总体中立态度（M = 2.9）。多元线性回归发现，宗教信仰是与他们的 XTx 接受水平 (p = .01) 负相关的最强因素，其次是社会心理问题 (p = .03) 和医疗结果 (p = .04)。结论： 鉴于描述性统计数据显示对移植相关问题缺乏了解，应谨慎解释其宗教信仰的影响。对调查结果的全面概述表明。XTx 是一个公共政策问题，而不仅仅是个人宗教信仰、社会心理问题或医疗风险的问题。韩国宗教团体在接受生物医学技术方面可以发挥重要作用，以确保更多的社会受益并支持其存在。