Faculty Collaboration Database

American Muslim Physician Attitudes Toward Organ Donation. J Relig Health 2018 Oct;57(5):1717-1730

Date

08/05/2018

Pubmed ID

30076496

DOI

10.1007/s10943-018-0683-2

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85051677548 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   15 Citations

Abstract

Religious beliefs and values impact Muslim patients' attitudes toward a variety of healthcare decisions, including organ donation. Muslim physician attitudes toward organ donation, however, are less well studied. Utilizing a national survey of physician members of the Islamic Medical Association of North America, relationships between religiosity, patterns of bioethics resource utilization, and sociodemographic characteristics with attitudes toward organ donation were assessed. Of 255 respondents, 251 answered the target question, "in your understanding, does Islamic bioethics and law permit organ donation?." 177 respondents (70%) answered positively, 30 (12%) negatively, and 46 (18%) did not know. Despite the overwhelming majority of respondents believing organ donation to be permitted by Islamic bioethics and law, fewer than one-third (n = 72, 30%) are registered donors. Several sociodemographic features had a positive association with believing organ donation to be permitted: ethnic descent other than that of South Asian, having immigrated to the USA as an adult, and male sex. When using a logistic regression model controlling for these three variables as potential confounders, the best predictor of Muslim physicians believing organ donation to be permissible was utilization of an Imam as a bioethical resource (odds ratio 5.9, p = 0.02). Religiosity variables were not found to be associated with views on the Islamic permissibility of organ donation. While Muslim American physicians appear to believe there is religious support for organ donation, only a minority sign up to be donors. Greater study is needed to understand how physicians' attitudes regarding donation impact discussions between patients and physicians regarding the possibility of donating and of receiving a transplant.

Author List

Ahmed M, Kubilis P, Padela A

Author

Aasim Padela MD Vice Chair, Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Islam
Male
Organ Transplantation
Physicians
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tissue Donors
Tissue and Organ Procurement
United States