Concerns and Challenges of Living Donors When Making Decisions on Organ Donation: A Qualitative Study

Background

Mental concerns of living donors can be a solid barrier to logical and informed decision-making for organ donation. The present study explores living donors' mental concerns and problems during the process of decision-making for organ donation.

Materials and Methods

present study was performed using qualitative content analysis. Twenty-one participants were selected by purposive sampling. The data were collected and recorded through semistructured interviews and analyzed by MAX Qualitative Data Analysis software 12, based on Graneheim and Lundman's contractual content analysis method.

Results

Data analysis extracted 425 codes, 13 subcategories, 3 main categories, and 1 core theme (conflict between doubt and certainty). The three main categories were individual barriers and concerns (faced by the donor), interpersonal concerns and barriers (experienced by the family), and socio-organizational concerns and barriers (at the community).

Conclusions

Based on the results, donors have significant concerns and face major problems when deciding on organ donation. Therefore, health-care professionals should take into account organ donors' concerns, raise awareness of donor associations, and formulate policies to increase living donors' satisfaction.

Higher Morbidity and Mortality in Trauma Intensive Care Unit Patients with Opium Addiction

BACKGROUND

Opium addiction is associated with multiple physical, psychological, and social problems. The aim of this study was to compare the risk of morbidity and mortality in opium-addicted and non-addicted trauma patients admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) of trauma center of Kerman Province, Iran.

METHODS

In this cohort study, a total of 200 addict and non-addicted patients who were admitted due to trauma in ICUs of Shahid Bahonar Hospital in Kerman during 9 months of 2018 were included. Patients were compared in terms of mortality, incidence of pressure ulcers, incidence of organ failure, duration of mechanical ventilation, and duration of hospitalization. Data were analysed using Fisher's exact test and independent t-test at P < 0.05.

FINDINGS

Out of 197 examined patients, 161 (81.7%) individuals were men and 36 (18.3%) were women. Moreover, 98 (49.7%) patients had a history of opium abuse, while 99 (50.2%) patients had no history of opium addiction. The addicted and non-addicted groups had no significant differences in terms of age (P = 0.650) and gender (P = 0.580). In addicted patients, mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation (P = 0.027), the incidence of pressure ulcer, and organ failure were significantly higher (P < 0.001), but mean ICU stay and hospitalization time was the same in both groups.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study indicated higher mortality and morbidity in opium-addicted patients admitted to ICU than non-addicted ones. This suggests that various systems of the body are affected by opium and, in certain circumstances such as severe diseases, this will cause problems for patients. Therefore, experts should pay attention to complications and side effects of addiction in the management of critical patients with a history of opium abuse.