AUTHOR=Grubb Caitlyn J. , Bergeria Cecilia L. , Huhn Andrew S. , Dunn Kelly E. 

TITLE=Attitudes Toward Organ Donation for Persons Who Have a Substance Use Disorder Relative to Other Health Conditions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.698645

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2021.698645

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Increases in opioid-related overdose and death have led to increases in the number of organs available for donation and transplant, however persons who have a substance use disorder (SUD) may be disadvantaged relative to other health conditions with regard to receiving an organ for transplant.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> This study aimed to evaluate perceptions regarding acceptability and priority for organ donation vs. a control condition (resuscitation) for hypothetical persons with nine target health conditions including a substance use disorder, among persons recruited as part of an online survey.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Respondents (<italic>N</italic> = 285; male = 172, female = 113) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk rated acceptability and priority that hypothetical persons representing nine target health conditions expected to influence transplant success (including a SUD) receive an organ transplant and resuscitation via a survey hosted by Qualtrics. Primary outcomes of stigma ratings and priority ranking of persons as a function of the hypothetical target health condition were analyzed using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance and Bonferroni-corrected <italic>t</italic>-tests. Demographic information was presented descriptively for all respondents.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Ratings for acceptability and priority for persons who had a SUD were generally lower than ratings for other conditions for both organ for transplant and resuscitation, though respondents reported less stigma toward resuscitation, <italic>F</italic><sub>(8)</sub> = 22.35, <italic>p</italic> &lt;0.001 overall. Respondents were least supportive of persons who smoked cigarettes receiving an organ, <italic>p</italic>'s &lt; 0.001. Priority rankings favored persons who were young or had a history of heart disease. Multivariable models determined that target health condition, <italic>F</italic><sub>(8)</sub> = 33.64, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001, was a better and more consistent predictor of response than demographic variables that were examined.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Data suggest that general perception of acceptability and priority ranking for receipt of life-saving interventions was lower for persons who have a SUD relative to other clinically-relevant health conditions. Research to examine this effect among persons working in the donation system are warranted and efforts to reduce stigma toward persons who have a SUD should be continued.</p>