Vascularized Composite Allograft Donation and Transplantation: A Survey of Public Attitudes in the United States.
Vascularized composite allograft (VCA) transplantation has emerged as a groundbreaking surgical intervention to return identity and function following traumatic injury, congenital deformity, or disfigurement. While public attitudes toward traditional organ/tissue donation are favorable, little is known about attitudes toward VCA donation and transplantation. A survey was conducted of 1485 U.S. residents in August 2016 to assess VCA donation attitudes. Participants also completed the Revised Health Care System Distrust Scale. Most respondents were willing to donate hands/forearms (67.4%) and legs (66.8%), and almost half (48.0%) were willing to donate the face. Three-quarters (74.4%) of women were willing to donate the uterus; 54.4% of men were willing to donate the penis. VCA donation willingness was more likely among whites and Hispanics (p < 0.001), registered organ/tissue donors (p < 0.001), and those with less health care system distrust (p < 0.001) and media exposure to VCA transplantation (p = 0.003). Many who opposed VCA donation expressed concerns about psychological discomfort, mutilation, identity loss, and the reaction of others to seeing familiar body parts on a stranger. Attitudes toward VCA donation are favorable overall, despite limited exposure to VCA messaging and confusion about how VCA donation occurs. These findings may help guide the development and implementation of VCA public education campaigns.
['Rodrigue|J R|JR|', 'Tomich|D|D|', 'Fleishman|A|A|', 'Glazier|A K|AK|']
D001294:Attitude to Health D064595:Composite Tissue Allografts D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D016377:Organ Transplantation D011639:Public Opinion D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement D014184:Transplantation, Homologous D014481:United States
survey clinical research/practice donors and donation donors and donation: deceased social sciences vascularized composite and reconstructive transplantation