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The effect of a mandatory choice systemfor organ donation after brain death onethical legitimacy and potential efficacyin a mathematical model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The "mandatory choice" system is an organ donation system that forces individuals to clearly express their choice about organ donation. Although this system is widely practiced in western countries, it has not yet been implemented in many Asian countries. This study aimed to compare the possible outcomes of a mandatory choice system and the current system in Korea.

Methods

A mathematical model was used to predict outcomes under each system. A structured questionnaire assuming two systems (current opt-in and mandatory choice) was developed to investigate participants' decisions on organ donation and the family's consent after brain death in each system. Participants who enrolled in this survey were 100 couples (200 people).

Results

The total number of donors decreased slightly from 102 (51.0%) in the current opt-in system to 93 (46.5%) in the mandatory choice system. The rate of achieving autonomy was increased from 62.5% (125/200) in the current system to 68.0% (136/200) in the mandatory choice system. The achievement of negative autonomy was relatively higher in the mandatory choice system (73.6% [67/91] vs. 63.2% [55/87]).

Conclusions

The mandatory choice system can supplement the weak ethical point of the current system by increasing the achievement of autonomy.

SUBMITTER: Cho IS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9188930 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundThe cause of brain injury may influence the number of organs that can be procured and transplanted with donation following neurologic determination of death. We investigated whether the distribution of causes responsible for neurologic death has changed over time and, if so, whether this has had an impact on organ quality, transplantation rates and recipient outcomes.MethodsWe performed a cohort study involving consecutive brain-dead organ donors in southern Alberta between 2003 and 2014. For each donor, we determined last available measures of organ injury and number of organs transplanted, and compared these variables for various causes of neurologic death. We compared trends to national Canadian data for 2000-2013 (2000-2011 for Quebec).ResultsThere were 226 brain-dead organ donors over the study period, of whom 100 (44.2%) had anoxic brain injury, 63 (27.9%) had stroke, and 51 (22.6%) had traumatic brain injury. The relative proportion of donors with traumatic brain injury decreased over time (> 30% in 2003-2005 v. 6%-23% in 2012-2014) (p = 0.004), whereas that with anoxic brain injury increased (14%-37% v. 46%-80%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Nationally, the annual number of brain-dead donors with traumatic brain injury decreased from 4.4 to less than 3 per million population between 2000 and 2013, and that with anoxic brain injury increased from 1.1 to 3.1 per million. Donors with anoxic brain injury had higher concentrations of creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and troponin T, and lower PaO2/FIO2 and urine output than donors with other diagnoses. The average number of organs transplanted per donor was 3.6 with anoxic brain injury versus 4.5 with traumatic brain injury or stroke (p = 0.002).InterpretationAnoxic brain injury has become a leading cause of organ donation after neurologic determination of death in Canada. Organs from donors with anoxic brain injury have a greater degree of injury, and fewer are transplanted. These findings have implications for availability of organs for transplantation in patients with end-stage organ failure.