Effects of a Video on Organ Donation Consent Among Primary Care Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Low organ donation rates remain a major barrier to organ transplantation.

We aimed to determine the effect of a video and patient cueing on organ donation consent among patients meeting with their primary care provider.

This was a randomized controlled trial between February 2013 and May 2014.

The waiting rooms of 18 primary care clinics of a medical system in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The study included 915 patients over 15.5 years of age who had not previously consented to organ donation.

Just prior to their clinical encounter, intervention patients (n = 456) watched a 5-minute organ donation video on iPads and then choose a question regarding organ donation to ask their provider. Control patients (n = 459) visited their provider per usual routine.

The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who consented for organ donation. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients who discussed organ donation with their provider and the proportion who were satisfied with the time spent with their provider during the clinical encounter.

Intervention patients were more likely than control patients to consent to donate organs (22 % vs. 15 %, OR 1.50, 95%CI 1.10-2.13). Intervention patients were also more likely to have donation discussions with their provider (77 % vs. 18 %, OR 15.1, 95%CI 11.1-20.6). Intervention and control patients were similarly satisfied with the time they spent with their provider (83 % vs. 86 %, OR 0.87, 95%CI 0.61-1.25).

How the observed increases in organ donation consent might translate into a greater organ supply is unclear.

Watching a brief video regarding organ donation and being cued to ask a primary care provider a question about donation resulted in more organ donation discussions and an increase in organ donation consent. Satisfaction with the time spent during the clinical encounter was not affected.

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01697137.