Differential impact of opt-in, opt-out policies on deceased organ donation rates: a mixed conceptual and empirical study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To increase postmortem organ donation rates, several countries are adopting an opt-out (presumed consent) policy, meaning that individuals are deemed donors unless they expressly refused so. Although opt-out countries tend to have higher donation rates, there is no conclusive evidence that this is caused by the policy itself. The main objective of this study is to better assess the direct impact of consent policy defaults per se on deceased organ recovery rates when considering the role of the family in the decision-making process. This study does not take into account any indirect effects of defaults, such as potential psychological and behavioural effects on individuals and their relatives.

Design

Based on previous work regarding consent policies, we created a c

SUBMITTER: Molina-Perez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9462118 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature