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Published on: August 15, 2022
What information about donation after circulatory death is available on the Internet for potential donor families?
Kristin Black1, Katherine Miller1, Gavin Beck2
1College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Insights
Online information on donation after circulatory death (DCD) is scarce. Most available DCD content is found on medical sites, with limited mention on general organ donation pages.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Public Health Communication
- Organ Transplantation
Background:
- Donation after circulatory death (DCD) is a critical source of organs for transplantation.
- Public understanding and available online information significantly influence donation rates.
- Assessing the current online landscape for DCD information is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the availability and content of information regarding donation after circulatory death (DCD) on the internet.
- To identify common arguments presented for and against DCD.
Main Methods:
- Searched major English-language search engines using terms related to DCD and organ donation.
- Analyzed the top 240 resulting webpages for DCD information, site type, tone, and specific statements.
- Utilized Grounded Theory Method to define recurring themes for and against DCD.
Main Results:
- Only 50.9% of analyzed webpages contained DCD information, with just 10% of "organ donation" searches yielding DCD content.
- The majority of DCD information was found on "medical journal" or "hospital/university" websites (78%).
- Most DCD content (89%) had a positive or neutral tone, with nine distinct positive and negative tropes identified.
Conclusions:
- There is a significant lack of readily accessible information about donation after circulatory death (DCD) on general organ donation webpages.
- Future online content strategies should address this gap, providing clear and comprehensive DCD information.
- Consideration of common pro and con statements is crucial for family discussions and educational material development.
Introduction:
The purpose of this study is to determine what information about donation after circulatory death (DCD) is available on the Internet and to document the common statements for and against DCD.
Methods:
The search terms non-heart-beating donor, donation after cardiac death, DCD, deceased donor, organ donation, and organ harvesting were entered into the four most-accessed English-language Internet search engines. The top 10 webpages from each search (240 webpages) yielded 116 unique sites. Three reviewers reviewed each webpage and recorded statements for and against DCD as well as site type, tone, and mention of DCD.
Results:
While 59 (50.9%) of the overall 116 sites included DCD information, only 10% of sites found with the term "organ donation" mentioned DCD at all. The sites that did include DCD were mostly (78%) of the type "medical journal" or "hospital or university webpage" and 89% of these had a positive or neutral tone. Nine positive and nine negative tropes were defined using the Grounded Theory Method.
Conclusion:
This study reveals the lack of information regarding DCD in organ donation webpages. Thoughtful responses to these statements should be considered in family discussions and in the design of future webpages.
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