Correlates of support for living donation among African American adults

Living donation is studied with much less intensity among African Americans than among the general population. Examination of barriers to living donation can lead to effective strategies to educate dialysis patients and their families about this alternative.

To explore the correlates of likelihood of becoming a living donor among community-recruited African American adults.

Cross-sectional data were gathered via self-administered questionnaire from 425 African American adults, age 18 years and older, who were recruited from 9 churches in Atlanta.

Self-reported likelihood of becoming a living donor to a close family member, an extended family member or friend, or a stranger.

More than three-quarters of participants were willing to act as living donors to a close family member or spouse and two-thirds to friends or extended family. For likelihood of donating to a friend or extended family member, only willingness to engage in deceased donation was significantly associated; to a stranger, both willingness to engage in deceased donation and attitudes toward donation were significantly associated. Knowledge of and personal experiences with donation and/or transplantation were not significantly associated with likelihood of any type of living donation.

Findings indicate widespread support for living donation to a close family member or spouse. These findings have important implications for dialysis patients who must decide whether to approach friends and/or family about the possibility of serving as a living donor and emphasize the need for interventions to help facilitate this process.