The Impact of Ethnicity on Research Authorization at the Time of Organ Donation: A Single-Center Experience Among Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation

Objective: Research on deceased organ donors is needed to expand the donor organ supply. Little is known about the rate of research authorization among various groups. We aimed to determine the percentage of research authorization by the deceased donor family across different donor characteristics.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of deceased donors referred to 1 United States institution for kidney transplantation over a 12-month period. Organs were offered from multiple organ procurement organizations (OPOs) across the United States. Stepwise logistic regression was performed to determine the predictors of research authorization.

Results: From October 2018 to October 2019, 437 deceased donors were accepted for transplantation. About 81.5% came from OPOs outside our donor service area and 18.5% from our local OPO. Overall, research authorization was declined in 24.0% of donors. Declined authorization was highest among Black donors (42.0%) compared to Whites (16.3%) and Hispanics (26.9%) (P = .000006). Donors <35 years had the highest declined research authorization at 42.9% compared to older donors. There were no significant differences between individual OPOs.

Conclusion: Deceased donor research authorization declined at the time of organ donation is higher among Black and younger donors. There is an immediate need for the transplant and donor community to develop best practices to eliminate barriers to research in organ transplantation.

Cite this article as: Ortigosa-Goggins M, Sivan S, Gaynor JJ, Guerra G, Lentine KL, Mannon RB. The impact of ethnicity on research authorization at the time of organ donation: A single-center experience among deceased donor kidney transplantation. Turk J Nephrol. 2023;32(4):361-366.