Table 4.
Studies showing association between timing of request for organ donation and consent rate for organ donation. Numbers are percentages of relatives consenting to organ donation when factor present or not
| Study | No studied | Type of study | Factors associated with consent | % consenting | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With factor | Without factor | |||||
| Siminoff et al,w1 2001, US | 420 | Retrospective data collection via chart reviews, and telephone interviews with healthcare practitioners or OPO staff, and face to face interviews with family for all donor eligible deaths | Organ donation mentioned while brain death tests conducted | 65 | 56* | 0.04 |
| DeJong et al,w3 1998, US | 164 | Structured telephone interview with immediate next of kin 4-6 months after death of relative | Subject of organ donation brought up after family given enough time to understand that relative was brain stem dead | 83 | 56 | <0.001 |
| Rodrigue et al,w4 2006, US | 285 | Retrospective structured telephone interview with next of kin of donor eligible deceased individuals | Relatives thought timing of request appropriate | 68 | 18* | <0.001 |
| Relatives thought they were given enough time to discuss donation | 60 | 27* | <0.001 | |||
| Niles et al,w9 1996, US | 127 | Retrospective study with data collection questionnaire | Organ donation requested before death | 62 | — | — |
| Organ donation requested after death | 57 | — | 0.07* | |||
| Organ donation requested at same time as family told of patient’s death | 25 | — | — | |||
| Gortmaker et al,w2 1998, US | 707 | Data collected prospectively for medically suitable potential donors referred to three organ procurement organisations | Request decoupled (not at same time as death notification) | 72 | 53 | <0.001 |
| von Pohle et al,w7 1996, US | 68 | Retrospective chart review | Request decoupled (not at same time as death notification) | 86 | 25 | <0.05 |
| Garrison et al,w8 1991, US | 155 | Retrospective review | Request decoupled (not at same time as death notification) | 65 | 18 | <0.05 |
| Evanisko et al,w14 1998, US | 1061 | Staff questionnaire | More respondents from hospitals with high donation rates (40.6%) than respondents from hospitals with low donation rates (30.0%) knew that appropriate time to bring up topic of organ donation was after brain death had been determined (decoupled); P=0.04 | — | — | — |
| Rodrigue et al,w18 2003, US | 1014 | Structured telephone interview with next of kin | Relatives felt pressured to donate | 2 | 6 | <0.001 |
| Relatives had enough time to decide | 86 | 58 | <0.001 | |||
OPO=organ procurement organisation.
*Calculated from published data.