How does the general public view posthumous organ donation? A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature

Newton, Joshua D

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-791

BMC Public Health

Table 2 Beliefs Identified in the Reviewed Studies

From: How does the general public view posthumous organ donation? A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature

Beliefs	Study^†																								n
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Religion
Religious opposition to organ donation	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+		+	+	+	+	+	+	+	23
Need to maintain bodily integrity	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+	22
Interferes with funeral or burial rituals		+		+	+			+		+			+	+	+	+		+		+	+				12
Fatalism		+		+		+				+				+		+					+			+	8
Haunt surviving family members				+		+																			2
Religious support for organ donation	+		+	+	+		+				+				+	+		+		+					10
Uncertain of religion's position		+	+	+	+		+			+	+				+	+		+	+	+			+		13
Death
Don't like to think/talk about death or organ donation	+	+		+	+	+	+		+	+	+	+		+	+	+		+				+	+	+	17
Talking about death or organ donation tempts fate				+		+			+		+					+		+					+	+	8
Organ donation transforms the concept of death		+							+				+					+					+	+	6
Altruism
Organ donation helps those in need	+	+	+		+		+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+			+	20
Organ donation helps the broader community			+					+		+			+	+				+							6
Indirect reciprocity			+	+									+					+			+				5
Social/cultural isolation		+				+											+								3
Personal relevance
Don't consider donation until its personally relevant	+	+			+	+				+				+		+		+						+	9
Beliefs change as donation becomes personally relevant	+		+			+		+		+	+		+											+	8
The body
Organ donation dehumanizes the body	+	+	+		+		+	+		+			+			+	+	+		+	+				13
Ownership over body	+									+		+					+			+	+	+			7
Some organs have special significance				+	+					+		+			+					+	+	+			8
Personality contamination				+						+				+				+		+		+			6
Utilitarian view of the body			+		+			+		+			+					+		+	+	+		+	10
Body holds little intrinsic importance after death			+		+			+					+					+			+			+	7
Wasteful not to donate					+													+		+					3
Body is a 'machine'										+		+	+								+	+			5
The family
Family attitude towards donation	+	+		+		+	+	+		+	+				+	+		+						+	12
Minimize family stress		+						+		+			+	+						+	+				7
The medical profession
Organs obtained unethically	+	+	+	+	+	+	+		+	+			+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+				18
Organs removed before death	+	+					+						+	+	+			+		+	+				9
Life-saving medical care withheld		+	+	+	+	+	+		+	+			+			+	+	+	+						13
Exceed terms of consent				+		+											+	+			+				5
Doctors make mistakes			+	+			+		+				+				+	+			+				8
Brain death				+			+		+				+				+	+			+				7
Routine medical errors			+															+							2
Life needlessly prolonged to obtain organs						+															+				2
Doctors push boundaries of nature																		+			+	+	+		4
Unethical or prejudicial organ allocation		+	+			+	+			+			+					+	+		+		+		10
Organs used for unintended purposes							+		+		+		+			+		+			+				7
Illicit trading							+		+		+		+			+		+							6
Unauthorized experiments																					+				1
Health system constraints				+				+		+													+		4
Unaware of registration process						+			+					+	+	+									5
Perceived lack of donation knowledge	+		+	+		+		+	+		+							+		+			+		10
The transplant recipients
Donated organ may be defective	+							+		+			+			+		+		+	+	+		+	10
Recipients 'waiting' for someone to die													+												1
Organ allocation should be restricted to:		+	+	+		+				+	+			+	+	+		+				+		+	12
Specific populations		+	+							+	+			+											5
'Deserving' recipients		+		+						+								+							4
Family or friends			+	+		+				+				+	+	+						+		+	9

^† Numbers correspond to the studies summarized in Table 1.

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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