Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: To test whether simply asking people to rate the extent to which they anticipate feeling regret for not registering as an organ donor after death increases subsequent verified organ donor registration.

Method: There were 14,509 members of the general public (both registered and nonregistered donors) randomly allocated to 1 of 4 arms, each receiving different questionnaires. The no-questionnaire control (NQC) arm received a survey measuring demographics and whether or not they were registered organ donors. The questionnaire control (QC) arm completed the NQC questions plus questions regarding affective attitudes and intention to register as an organ donor. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) questionnaire arm received the QC questionnaire, plus additional items measuring TPB variables. The anticipated regret (AR) arm received the TPB questionnaire, plus 2 additional items measuring anticipated regret. The main outcome measures were number of nondonor participants who subsequently registered 6 months later, as verified by the United Kingdom national transplant register.

Results: Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis in nonregistered donors (N = 9,139) revealed the NQC arm were more likely to register as an organ donor (6.39%) compared with the AR (4.51%) arm.

Conclusions: A brief anticipated regret intervention led to a decrease in registration. A potential reason is discussed in terms of questionnaire item content "priming" negative perceptions of organ donation. This is a methodological concern that needs to be addressed in studies that use similar interventions. Current controlled trials: www.controlled-trials.com number: ISRCTN922048897. (PsycINFO Database Record