Organ transplant shortage is a global problem caused by several factors, most of which are related to members of the family, who play a major role in the donation process.
Objective: We sought to determine the most determinant features in the donor profile that relate to positive decisions versus refusal of donation.
Material and methods: Fifty-six families who were approached by the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) from November 2004 to April 2006 agreed to participate in this work. To assess donor profiles, we used a structured interview.
Results: Parental involvement directly in decisions about donation lead to significantly less frequent consent (P = .005), young donor age was associated with a reduced probability of donation (P = .002), violent death negatively influenced donation consent, excluding suicide (P = .004).
Conclusion: The present study showed violent death, young patient age, and parental donation consent to be the most important factors that make it harder to obtain consent organ donation. When a collateral relative (sibling/uncle) or children were responsible for the donation decision, there was more success of consent.