Increasing Organ Donor Designation Rates in Adolescents: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of video messaging on adolescent organ donor designation rates.Methods. We randomized adolescent driver education classes in Massachusetts, between July 2015 and February 2018, to receive 1 of 3 organ donation video messaging interventions (informational, testimonial, or blended). Adolescents completed questionnaires before and after the intervention and at 1-week follow-up; we compared their registration status at time of obtaining driver's license with that of a regionally matched historical comparison group.Results. Donor designation rates were higher for those exposed to video messaging than for the historical comparison group (60% vs 50%; P < .001). Testimonial (64%) and blended messaging (65%) yielded higher donor designation rates than informational messaging (51%; P = .013). There was a statistically significant messaging × time interaction effect for donation knowledge (P = .03), with blended and informational messaging showing more gains in knowledge from before to after the intervention (P < .001; d = 0.69 and P < .001; d = 0.45, respectively), compared with testimonial messaging (d = 0.09; P = .22).Conclusions. Testimonial messaging is most effective in producing a verifiable and demonstrable impact on donor designation rates among adolescents, and driver education classes are an efficient venue for disseminating organ donation messaging to youths.Trial Registration. ClinicalTrials.gov; identifier: NCT03013816.