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.
|
