Factors influencing consent rates to deceased organ donation in the Western Cape, South Africa

Background. South Africa has very low organ donation rates. Objective. To describe the number of consent requests and factors influencing request. Methods. Prospective descriptive study of all family requests for organ donation conducted in the Western Cape by the Groote Schuur, Red Cross War Memori...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southern African journal of critical care 2019-07, Vol.35 (1), p.32
Main Authors: Bookholane, H, Michaelides, A, Prins, L, Human, L, Steenkamp, L, McCurdie, F, Gili, B, Thomson, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative analysis
Hospitals
Organ transplantation
South Africa
Tissue donation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background. South Africa has very low organ donation rates. Objective. To describe the number of consent requests and factors influencing request. Methods. Prospective descriptive study of all family requests for organ donation conducted in the Western Cape by the Groote Schuur, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (state) and Netcare (private) transplant coordinators for the period 1 May 2017 to 1 May 2018. Results. The six coordinators (3 state and 3 private) recorded data on 83 consecutive family approaches from 16 hospitals. The number of family approaches was greater in the state (n=74) compared with the private (n=9) hospitals. The overall consent rate was 27.7% (state sector 24.3%, private sector 55.5%). More referrals came from trauma and emergency units (n=55; 66.25%) than intensive care units (n=25; 30.1%). Fluid resuscitation was required in 56 (67.5%) potential donors. The main reason for consent refusal was 'against my religion' (n=21) or 'culture' (n=18). Conclusion. Approaches for consent were low in the Western Cape (lower in the private sector), with a low consent rate (lower in the state sector). Donor management by treating clinical teams needs to be ongoing and active during the consent process.
ISSN:1562-8264