The Instability of Organ Donation Decisions by Next-of-Kin and Factors That Predict It

Abstract

We examined the instability of organ donation decisions made by next-of-kin and factors that predict whether non-donors wish they had consented to donation. Next-of-kin of donor-eligible individuals from one organ procurement organization participated in a semi-structured telephone interview. Participants were asked if they would make the same decision if they had to make it again today. Of the 147 next-of-kin donors, 138 (94%) would make the same decision again; 6 (4%) would not consent to donation, and 3 (2%) were unsure. Of the 138 next-of-kin non-donors, 89 (64%) would make the same decision again, 37 (27%) would consent to donation, and 12 (9%) were unsure. Regret among non-donors was more likely when the next-of-kin had more favorable transplant attitudes (OR=1.76, CI=1.15, 2.69), had the first donation discussion with a non-OPO professional (OR=0.21, CI=0.13, 0.65), was not told their loved one was dead before this discussion (OR=0.23, CI=0.10, 0.50), did not feel they were given enough time to make the decision (OR=0.25, CI=0.11, 0.55), had not discussed donation with family members (OR=0.30, CI=0.13, 0.72), and had not heard a public serve announcement about organ donation (OR=0.29, CI=0.13, 0.67). OPOs should consider targeting these variables in educational campaigns and donation request approaches.

Perceived Support Among Families Deciding About Organ Donation for Their Loved Ones: Donor Vs Nondonor Next Of Kin

“…They also tended to express more uncertainty about their decision. The latter findings, which are consistent with those of Rodrigue et al, 40 highlight what may have been lost opportunities in obtaining consent from families and underscore the need for careful examination by OPO and hospital staff. Such examination should address strategies to reduce the potential for regrets and uncertainties among families by optimally meeting their needs for support.…”

Satisfaction With the Organ Donation Process of Brain Dead Donors' Families In Korea

“…This finding is consistent with studies reporting that the reasons that families of braindead patients have a hard time choosing organ donation are due to social wisdom and prejudices as well as conflicts regarding the uncertainty of donation when the brain-dead person is still alive [3,4]. Likewise, because donors who express their wishes help their families to proceed with donation [3,12], it is essential to remind the public that organ donation is important and necessary via education and public relations using mass communication approaches. This study showed that 20.7% of the subjects decided to donate because of advice they received from medical teams.…”

“…The survey contents consisted of the organ donors' general characteristics, the families' satisfaction with the donation process, and the families' experienced emotions after the donation. Satisfaction with the donation process was measured using a 7-point scale with 9 questions that was developed by our research team based on previous studies [6,12]. This tool was validated by 2 coordinators with more than 10 years of work experience related to organ donation and transplantations and 2 nursing college faculty members.…”

Intensive care staff, the donation request and relatives’ satisfaction with the decision: a focus group study

“…ICU staff were not familiar with the aforementioned decision stability literature [13-16]. Moreover, from their own practice they did not know whether relatives were (dis)satisfied with their decision.…”