Majority of Americans say they would donate organs - Editorial

AORN Journal, Jan, 2004

Sixty-three percent of American adults say that if they were killed in an accident, they would want their organs transplanted into patients who needed them, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health Care Poll. Twenty-seven percent said they were not sure, and only 10% would not want their organs used for transplantation. In addition, 62% said they would consent to having a child's or spouse's organs donated if that person were killed in an accident.

Factors that respondents said would influence people like them to donate a family member's organs included

* whether the dead person previously had signed a donor form authorizing organ use (68%),

* the knowledge that a transplanted organ could save several lives (65%), and

* trained experts to explain the need for organs and benefits for the organ recipients (38%).

The poll of 2,467 adults was conducted online between Sept 4, and Sept 8, 2003.

"A Mojority of Americans Say that if Killed in an Accident, They Would Want Their Organs Used for a Living Person Who Needed Them," The Wail Street Journal Online 2 (Sept 23, 2003) http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/wsjhealth news/WS3 On Line_HI_Health-CarePoll2003vol2_iss7.pdf (accessed 10 Oct 2003).