Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jul;29(8):825-835.
doi: 10.1177/13591053231208531. Epub 2023 Nov 16.

Assessing the influence of affective attitudes, demography and blood donor status on organ donor registration active decisions in opt-out systems

Lee Shepherd  1 , Ronan E O'Carroll  2 , Eamonn Ferguson  3   4
Affiliations

Assessing the influence of affective attitudes, demography and blood donor status on organ donor registration active decisions in opt-out systems

Lee Shepherd et al. J Health Psychol. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

In contrast to opt-in systems, relatively little is known about what influences whether or not people register a decision about organ donation in opt-out systems. We address this gap in the literature. Participants (N = 756) living in a country with opt-out consent (Wales, UK) provided information on demographics and blood donor status. Participants indicated whether they had opted-in or opted-out (i.e. active decision), or not registered a decision under the assumption of deemed consent. Subsequently, their negative emotional beliefs (or affective attitudes) towards organ donation were measured. Opting-in was associated with being younger, having donated blood and holding superstitious beliefs about donation (jinx). Disgust (ick factor) deterred opting-in, and bodily integrity concerns increased opting-out. Positive affective attitudes increased opting-in and deterred opting-out. Actively opting-in increases the likelihood of organs being transplanted, thus, modifying affective attitudes and targeting blood donors should enhance the number of donors available under opt-out systems.

Keywords: affective attitudes; opt-out consent; organ donor registration; organ transplantation; perceived benefits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Arshad A, Anderson B, Sharif A. (2019) Comparison of organ donation and transplantation rates between opt-out and opt-in systems. Kidney International 95(6): 1453–1460. - PubMed
    1. Bertalli NA, Allen KJ, McLaren CE, et al.; for the HealthIron Study Investigators (2011) A comparison of self-reported and record-linked blood donation history in an Australian cohort. Transfusion 51(10): 2189–2198. - PubMed
    1. Clark NL, Copping L, Swainston K, et al. (2023) Attitudes to organ donor registration in England under opt-out legislation. Progress in Transplantation 33: 208–215. - PubMed
    1. Coe D, Newell N, Jones M, et al. (2023) NHS staff awareness, attitudes and actions towards the change in organ donation law in England—Results of the #options survey 2020. Archives of Public Health 81(1): 88. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crawshaw J, Li AH, Garg AX, et al. (2022) Identifying behaviour change techniques within randomized trials of interventions promoting deceased organ donation registration. British Journal of Health Psychology 27(3): 822–843. - PubMed