Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39083454›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Trends in organ donation in England, Scotland and Wales in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and 'opt-out' legislation.

Stephen O'Neill, Karen Thomas, Leah McLaughlin, Paul Boadu, Lorraine Williams, Mustafa Al-Haboubi, Jennifer Bostock, Jane Noyes, Nicholas Mays

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Promoting and Supporting Positive Conversations and Knowledge Mobilisation About Organ Donation in NHS Staff: a Hashtag "#" Series of Projects.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2025
    Article
  3. Qualitative Content and Discourse Analysis Comparing the Current Consent Systems for Deceased Organ Donation in Spain and England.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Stephen O'NeillDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-0022-0500
Karen ThomasClinical Research and Development, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
Leah McLaughlinSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.
Paul BoaduDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Lorraine WilliamsDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Mustafa Al-HaboubiDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-9847-2206
Jennifer BostockDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Jane NoyesSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-4238-5984
Nicholas MaysDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn May 2020, England implemented soft 'opt-out' or 'deemed consent' for deceased donation with the intention of raising consent rates. However, this coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult to assess the early impact of the law change. Wales and Scotland changed their organ donation legislation to implement soft opt-out systems in 2015 and 2021 respectively. This study provides a descriptive analysis of changes in consent and transplant rates for deceased organ donation in England, Scotland and Wales.

methodsLogistic regression and descriptive trend analysis were employed to assess the probability of a patient who died in critical care becoming a donor, and to report consent rates using data, respectively, from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) in England from 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2021, and from the Potential Donor Audit for England, Scotland and Wales from April 2010 to June 2023.

resultsThe number of eligible donors in April-June 2020 were 56.5%, 59.3% and 57.6% lower in England, Scotland and Wales relative to April-June 2019 (pre-pandemic). By April-June 2023, the number of eligible donors had recovered to 87.4%, 64.2% and 110.3%, respectively, of their levels in 2019. The consent rate in England, Scotland and Wales reduced from 68.3%, 63.0% and 63.6% in April-June 2019 to 63.2%, 60.5% and 56.3% in April-June 2023.

conclusionsWhile the UK organ donation system shows signs of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of eligible potential donors and consent rates remain below their pre-pandemic levels.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsTissue and Organ ProcurementTissue DonorsEnglandHumansInformed ConsentMaleSARS-CoV-2ScotlandWales

Identifiers

PMID39083454
PMCPMC11290620

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.