|
|
|
3.3 Living Donation
In recent years, the number of living donors has equaled
or exceeded the number of deceased donors, although deceased
donors provide the greater number of organs for transplantation.
Nonetheless, it is of interest to know how the public feels
about living donation.
Some
organs such as kidneys or parts of lungs or livers can be
donated while you are alive. How likely are you to donate
an organ while you are living to (A family member/A close
friend/Someone you don't know)?
Figure 10 presents the results for
these questions. There is a clear hierarchy of willingness
to provide a living donation. Americans more often say they
would be “very likely” to donate an organ while living
to a family member (61.7%), than to a close friend (31.3%)
or to someone they don't know (8.1%). Nearly two-thirds of
respondents say they would be “not very likely” or “not
at all likely” to donate to someone they don’t know.
As shown in Table 5, living donation
to a family member is endorsed by a very high percentage of
people across all demographic categories. There is little
difference between men and women or by age group with the
exception that more than 10% of those 55 and older indicate
that they would be “not very likely” or “not at all
likely” to donate compared with about 3% or less in the
other age groups. In contrast to other donation related attitudes,
education is not strongly related to living donation.
Table
5. Living Donation by Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Education
| |
|
Gender
|
Age
|
Race/Ethnicity
|
Education
|
| |
All
|
Male
|
Female
|
18-34
|
35-54
|
55+
|
White
|
Black
|
Latino
|
Asian
|
High School or Less
|
Some College
|
College Grad
|
| Some
organs such as kidneys or parts of lungs or livers can
be donated while you are alive. How likely are you to
donate an organ while you are living to a family member?
|
| Very Likely |
61.7
|
56.5
|
65.7
|
58.0
|
63.2
|
63.1
|
63.0
|
62.7
|
58.5
|
52.6
|
64.2
|
59.5
|
61.9
|
| Somewhat Likely
|
29.3
|
33.9
|
25.8
|
35.0
|
29.2
|
24.6
|
29.3
|
26.0
|
30.2
|
33.7
|
28.6
|
30.0
|
29.2
|
| Not Very Likely
|
4.6
|
6.2
|
3.4
|
4.3
|
4.4
|
5.1
|
4.5
|
4.7
|
5.6
|
4.1
|
2.2
|
5.1
|
5.6
|
| Not at All Likely
|
4.4
|
3.5
|
5.2
|
2.7
|
3.2
|
7.2
|
3.3
|
6.6
|
5.7
|
9.5
|
5.0
|
5.4
|
3.4
|
| Some
organs such as kidneys or parts of lungs or livers can
be donated while you are alive. How likely are you to
donate an organ while you are living to a close friend? |
| Very Likely |
31.3
|
30.4
|
32.0
|
28.4
|
33.2
|
31.1
|
32.2
|
28.3
|
30.8
|
19.3
|
26.6
|
36.4
|
30.1
|
| Somewhat Likely
|
43.7
|
40.9
|
45.8
|
53.6
|
44.0
|
36.0
|
44.6
|
40.6
|
43.7
|
49.5
|
44.3
|
41.3
|
45.3
|
| Not Very Likely
|
16.8
|
20.5
|
14.0
|
10.9
|
17.5
|
20.4
|
16.7
|
18.7
|
15.7
|
14.9
|
18.3
|
14.3
|
17.9
|
| Not at All Likely
|
8.2
|
8.1
|
8.2
|
7.1
|
5.2
|
12.5
|
6.5
|
12.5
|
9.8
|
16.3
|
10.7
|
8.1
|
6.7
|
| Some
organs such as kidneys or parts of lungs or livers can
be donated while you are alive. How likely are you to
donate an organ while you are living to someone you don't
know? |
| Very Likely |
8.1
|
6.3
|
9.4
|
7.0
|
6.3
|
10.8
|
6.5
|
14.2
|
8.1
|
4.2
|
7.7
|
9.9
|
8.1
|
| Somewhat Likely
|
29.9
|
22.7
|
35.3
|
32.6
|
34.3
|
21.7
|
28.7
|
34.2
|
34.1
|
26.1
|
29.3
|
34.5
|
29.9
|
| Not Very Likely
|
40.4
|
46.0
|
36.2
|
44.5
|
40.5
|
38.4
|
45.8
|
26.4
|
31.9
|
24.4
|
35.5
|
37.1
|
40.4
|
| Not at All Likely
|
21.6
|
25.0
|
19.1
|
16.0
|
18.9
|
29.2
|
19.0
|
25.2
|
26.0
|
45.4
|
27.5
|
18.5
|
21.6
|
| N of Cases
|
2,341
|
848
|
1,493
|
569
|
1,005
|
743
|
1,009
|
506
|
540
|
213
|
654
|
730
|
949
|
Figure 10: Likelihood of
Living Donation to a Family Member, Close Friend or Someone
You Don't Know
Some of the items used in the survey questionnaire for this
study are proprietary content owned by The Gallup Organization.
A complete list is found on the Copyright
page. Copyright © 1993, 2005 The Gallup Organization,
Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. |
