A Department of Motor Vehicles intervention yields moderate increases in donor designation rates

Abstract

Context: Nearly all persons (37% of public) who have a joined an organ donor registry in the United States have done so through their Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office, which is an underused venue for organ donation campaigns.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a statewide DMV-based intervention to increase donor designation rates.

Design and setting: Thirty DMV offices in Florida were randomly assigned to receive usual care (n = 15) or an organ donation intervention (n = 15). MEASUREMENT AND PRIMARY OUTCOME: Donor designation rates were assessed at baseline (before the intervention), during the intervention, and at follow-up.

Results: When baseline donor designation rate and region were controlled for, the intervention group showed a significantly higher aggregate monthly donor designation rate than the usual care group during the intervention phase of the study (P = .02). Donor designation rates did not differ significantly (P = .13) during the follow-up phase. Lower donor designations rates were significantly associated with DMV service regions with more minorities, less education, and lower income.

Conclusion: We conclude that a comprehensive DMV-based intervention focused on staff education and direct interactions with the public could yield modest increases in donor designation rates.