Organ Donation: A Comparison of Donating and Nondonating Families in Turkey.

Based on public opinion surveys, although 75% of people state that they would donate the organs of one of their relatives, in reality, the rate of the people who donate the organs of their relatives is 24%. To decrease the organ shortage, the key point is to understand the difference between intention and real behavior. For this reason, in this study, analyses of variables related to the potential organ donor families' decisions of approval or refusal for organ harvesting were analyzed. The interviews were conducted with 101 families who made a decision about organ donation between 2010 and 2014. The variables, strongly related with the family decision, are the wishes of the deceased persons about donation, suspicions regarding brain death, the desire to protect body integrity, and the satisfaction levels of the families with the approaches of medical personnel. The findings, obtained from qualitative data, also support the quantitative data. The results indicate that both education of the public about maintaining a positive attitude toward organ donation and education of health professionals can be key factors in decreasing the organ shortage.