A Quantitative Survey of Western Muslim Attitudes to Solid Organ Donation.

BACKGROUND.: It is imperative for healthcare providers to examine Western Muslim attitudes on organ donation, because they are reluctant donors. We explored such opinion with the aid of a quantitative survey. METHODS.: Voluntary completion of an anonymous survey was promoted (online and paper sampling). For a population target of approximately 1.6 billion, we targeted a completed sample size of 664 to achieve 5% error margins and 99% confidence intervals (assuming 50% response distribution). Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess independent predictors for organ donation approval. RESULTS.: In total, 891 global Muslims took the survey with 728 full completions (81.7% completion rate). Paper survey (14% of total) response rate was 62% (124 completed/200 distributed). Western Muslims comprised 76% of participants (n=675) and formed the basis of the analysis. A total of 68.5% of Western Muslims agreed with organ donation, but just 39.3% believed it was compatible with Islam (only 12.7% were registered donors). A total of 1.9% would refuse an organ transplant if required, with 72.4% happy to receive and 25.7% undecided. The main constraints cited by Western Muslims were interpretation of religious scripture (76.5%) and advice from local mosque (70.2%). Predictors for organ donation approval among all global Muslims included younger age, lesser degree of self-rated religiosity, awareness of organ shortages, higher education, and knowing someone with kidney disease/dialysis (all P