Determinants of organ donation registration

Abstract

Rates of organ donor registration range from 20% to 60% throughout the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine sociogeographic differences in organ donor registration rates throughout Missouri to identify varying patterns The organ donor registration rate from each Department of Motor Vehicle office in Missouri was extracted from the National Organ Registration database, office locations were geocoded, and census tract level sociodemographic characteristics were extracted. Spatial regression analyses were conducted to identify relationships between location of DMV offices and census tract-level concentrated disadvantage. Census tract-level concentrated disadvantage (education attainment, poverty, single-headed households) had a significant negative relationship with organ donor registration rates. Yet, census tract-level African American/Black resident concentration was not significantly related to organ donor registration rates. These findings suggest that race-based interventions to recruit organ donors may no longer be necessary. Yet, identifying how characteristics of concentrated disadvantage may be more influential in determining organ donor registration. Gaining a better understanding of how individual decisions are made is integral in the context of increased life expectancy in conjunction with the complex management of chronic conditions.

Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, racial segregation, and organ donation across 5 states

“…Of note, in our multivariable analyses that included both the socioeconomic deprivation index and the racial ICE, the effect of racial ICE was decreased; suggesting that the effect of racial ICE on organ donor registration may be mediated, in part, by socioeconomic deprivation. Although most previous studies focused on individual determinants of organ donor registration, 6,7,12,33 these data add to our limited understanding of contextual, geospatial determinants of organ donor registration 15‐17 …”

“…Such public health interventions have successfully been applied to infectious disease and cancer surveillance 43‐45 . Previous studies utilizing state BMV data have only been single state 11,15‐17,46 and may not be generalizable. That this study identified population‐level metrics strongly associated with organ donor registration across multiple, diverse states is a step closer toward implementing similar though novel strategies to improve organ availability.…”

“…At an individual level, those with lower socioeconomic status and African Americans are less likely to register as organ donors 7,11,12 . Community‐based interventions have been heralded as important tools for increasing organ donor registration, 13,14 yet links between neighborhood contextual characteristics, enumerated using area‐level data, and registration have been minimally explored 15‐17 . Ladin et al 16 found that lower area‐level social capital (ie, “features of social organization, such as networks, norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit” 18 ) and educational attainment were both associated with lower donor registration rates across Massachusetts.…”

To Donate or to Waste It: Understanding Posthumous Organ Donation Attitude

“…Numerous organ donation studies have been conducted in Western countries targeting Caucasian populations (Dahl et al, 2019; Moloney et al, 2019), as well as, specific ethnic populations such as African Americans (Shacham et al, 2018) and Hispanics (Salim et al, 2011). Yet, a significant gap in knowledge exists with regards to publishable research on organ donation within the Middle Eastern context.…”

Informed Clustering of Donation Service Areas for Improved Benchmarking

“…Disparities in race/ethnicity, age, education, marriage, religious beliefs, and immigrant acculturation have been explored in the literature for organ donor registration and authorization of donors. 4 –9 While much of the literature focuses on maximizing organ donor registration and identifying key demographic factors that explain variation in authorization and donor registration decisions, 10 –12 these studies do not directly address the differences in populations served by each OPO and the unique challenges that they may face. This study aims to address this gap by considering the general circumstances of the population within each DSA.…”