Requesting organ donation: an interview study of donor and nondonor families

Approximately half of the families asked to consider donation of a relative's organs decline to give consent. Understanding the difference between stated public support of organ donation and actual behavior is key to decreasing the shortage of donor organs.

To gain insight into the experiences of potential donor families and to define features of the donation-request process and other factors that are associated with consent for organ donation.

A structured telephone interview was conducted with the immediate next of kin of 164 medically suitable potential organ donors. Interviews 30 to 60 minutes long were held with members of both donor and nondonor families 4 to 6 months after the death of the study participant's relative.

Several factors were associated with consent for organ donation: characteristics of the patient and the patient's family, beliefs and attitudes about organ donation and transplantation, whether the family knew the deceased's wishes about donation, the family's satisfaction with the hospital care that their relative received, specific aspects of the donation-request process, and the family's understanding of brain death.

Organ donation rates could be increased by enhancing the quality of hospital care and ensuring that the request for donation is handled in a way that meets the families' informational and emotional needs.