342.6: What are the main reasons for family’s refusal of... : Transplantation (2024)

Objective: This study was done to determine and detect causes influencing family’s refusal of organ donation.

Methods: This study was done by interviewing families whose beloved was brain dead and they had not consented to organ donation. Information was collected by phone interviews with the family and using patient’s files by trained research. Among all them, 53 with completed phone interviews and patient files were entered in SPSS21 and analyzed.

Results: The most brain dead cases were male with a number of 37 (69.8%).

Graph 1. Causes of brain death

Most causes affecting the family’s refusal included social, emotional, cultural and cognitive factors respectively. Those refusing organ donations were mostly second-degree relatives.

Graph 2. Organ donation refusers’ relationship with the brain dead cases

As admitted by the families, 79.2% did not agree with organ donation because they couldn’t accept to disconnect their loved one from the machines (not accepting brain death as dead).The second cause of refusal was the negative influence of relatives, 60.4%. Believing in miracles, lack of knowledge about the purpose of organ donation, and needing support for decision making were at the third rank, 58.5%.It is notable that only 3.8% of the families reported that their beloved had previously announced their disagreement with a donation and no family member expected financial compensation in return for organ donation.

Conclusions: The most influential people in the family’s refusal are second-degree relatives. It seems that an important cause of family’s refusal especially in large families are the negative influential people and It is necessary for the coordinators to be able to determine the negative influential people in the family and to learn how to approach them. Family’s refusal of disconnecting their loved one from the ventilator, believing in miracles and distrust in doctors’ diagnosis show unacceptance of brain death as dead that confirms the need for educating the interview techniques to the coordinators. The following is suggested to increase the family’s consent of organ donation: Training all interviewers on how to face the negative influential people. Not requesting organ donation consent before the assurance of acceptance of death

Cultural awareness and educating the society to value organ donation and encourage it

Explaining the society that organ donation is a good deed and that no money is traded for it.