A qualitative systematic review of anonymous/unspecified living kidney and liver donors' perspectives

• Published in: PloS one 2022-12, Vol.17 (12), p.e0277792
• Main Authors: Lim, Wen Hui, Chan, Kai En, Ng, Cheng Han, Tan, Darren Jun Hao, Tay, Phoebe Wen Lin, Chin, Yip Han, Yong, Jie Ning, Xiao, Jieling, Fu, Clarissa Elysia, Nah, Benjamin, Tiong, Ho Yee, Syn, Nicholas, Devi, Kamala, Griva, Konstadina, Mak, Loey Lung Yi, Huang, Daniel Q, Fung, James, Siddiqui, Mohammad Shadab, Muthiah, Mark, Tan, Eunice X X
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Altruism; Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood & organ donations; Bone marrow; Complications and side effects; Decision making; Donors; Emotions; Health aspects; Health risks; Humans; Kidney; Kidney transplantation; Kidney Transplantation - psychology; Kidneys; Liver; Liver transplantation; Liver transplants; Living Donors - psychology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Online databases; Organ donors; Patient outcomes; Psychology; Qualitative Research; Reviews; Social responsibility; Social Sciences; Systematic review; Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc; Transplants & implants
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277792

Anonymous live organ donors or unspecified donors are individuals willing to be organ donors for any transplant recipient with whom they have no biological or antecedent emotional relationship. Despite excellent recipient outcomes and the potential to help address organ scarcity, controversy surrounds the unconditional act of gifting one's organs to an unrelated recipient. This qualitative systematic review provides insights into the first-hand experiences, motivations, and challenges that unspecified donors face. A systematic search was conducted on Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science database for qualitative literature regarding unspecified living donors' motivations and experiences in liver and kidney transplantation. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to generate themes and supportive subthemes. 12 studies were included. The four major themes were (i) motivations, (ii) perception of risks, (iii) donor support, and (iv) benefits of donation. Unspecified donors demonstrated a deep sense of social responsibility but tended to underestimate health risks in favour of benefits for recipients. Despite the lack of emotional support from family and friends, the decision to donate was a resolute personal decision for donors. Majority benefitted emotionally and did not express regret. This qualitative review bridges the gap in literature on unspecified living donor psychology and provides a comprehensive understanding of the decision-making matrix and experiences of donors.