Organ donation video messaging in motor vehicle offices: results of a randomized trial.
Rodrigue JR, Fleishman A, et al.Progress in Transplantation 2015; 25(4): 332-338.
Aims
To evaluate the impact of an organ donation video message in motor vehicle (MV) offices on donor designation rates.
Interventions
MV offices were randomized to receive either a continuous series of subtitled video segments inside waiting areas highlighting the positive impact of organ donation, the negative impact of the organ donor shortage, and the benefit of documenting one’s donation intentions (video intervention), or usual care.
Participants
28 MV offices in Massachusetts.
Outcomes
The primary measured outcome was monthly donor designation rate. Secondary outcomes measured were the percentage of new donor deisgnations and uptake of organ donation materials while visiting the MV office.
Follow-up
5 months
CET Conclusions
This is a particularly interesting and very carefully done study involving motor vehicle offices where people are registering either for renewal of their driver’s licence or to take out a new driver’s licence. Twenty-eight motor vehicle offices in Massachusetts were recruited. Offices were randomised to intervention using a brief organ donation video with subtitles that was displayed in a repetitive loop in the waiting area of the motor vehicle office. The control offices just had the usual printed material about organ donation. The primary outcome was the monthly donor designation rate for each office. Surprisingly, perhaps, in this randomised trial the intervention group did not lead to higher donor designation rates compared to offices with printed organ donation materials only. An unexpected finding was that only half of motor vehicle customers previously registered as an organ donor reported renewing their registration as a donor on the day that they were surveyed. Not all customers were surveyed obviously but this is certainly surprising. The authors conclude that although motor vehicle offices may be an excellent venue for delivering organ donation information to the public, the use of silent subtitled personal narratives in motor vehicle waiting areas did not prove to an effective strategy to increase organ donation registration. Thus, future research should focus on how best to deliver donation information in this venue to maximise donor registry enrolment or re-enrolment.
Data analysis
Strict intention-to-treat analysis
Trial registration
None