Racial Equity in Family Approach for Patients Medically Suitable for Deceased Organ Donation

To conduct a contemporary analysis of the association between family approach of medically suitable potential organ donors and race/ethnicity.

Retrospective review of data collected prospectively by Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs).

Ten OPOs representing eight regions of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and 26% of all deceased donor organs recovered in the United States.

All hospitalized patients on mechanical ventilation and referred to OPOs as potential donors from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2022.

None.

OPOs provided data on referral year, race, sex, donor registration status, screening determination, donation medical suitability, donation type (brain death, circulatory death), and family approach. We evaluated factors associated with family approach to discuss donation using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic models. Of 255,429 total cases, 138,622 (54%) were screened-in for further evaluation, with variation by race/ethnicity (50% White, 60% Black, 69% Hispanic, and 60% Asian). Among those screened-in, 31,253 (23%) were medically suitable for donation, with modest variation by race/ethnicity (22% White, 26% Black, 23% Hispanic, and 21% Asian). Family approach rate by OPOs of medically suitable cases was 94% ( n = 29,315), which did not vary by race/ethnicity (94% White, 93% Black, 95% Hispanic, and 95% Asian). Family approach by OPOs was lower for circulatory death (95%) vs. brain death (97%) cases but showed minimal differences in approach rate based on race/ethnicity between medically suitable patients with different death pathways. In contrast, donor registration status of medically suitable potential donors was highly variable by race/ethnicity (37% overall; 45% White, 21% Black, 29% Hispanic, and 25% Asian). Multivariable models indicated no significant difference of family approach between White and Black (odds ratio [OR], 1.09; 95% CI, 0.95-1.24) or Asian (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.95-1.60) patients.

Findings indicate racial equity in OPO family approach rates among patients who were medically suitable for organ donation.