Iranian Living Related Donors: Motivation for Kidney Donation

Abstract

Aim: This study sought to explore factors affecting Iranian living related donors’ motivation for kidney donation. Background: Living related donor kidney transplant is an ideal treatment among other options for chronic renal failure due to the greater compatibility of donor and recipient’s human leukocyte antigen. Accordingly, identifying factors affecting living related donors’ motivation for kidney donation is essential for transplant teams, including nurses, and can help them adopt strategies for encouraging family members to donate. Methods: This was a descriptive qualitative study to which fourteen family donors (six females and eight males) were recruited purposively from transplantation centers of all teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. The study data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and were analyzed by using the conventional content analysis approach. Findings: Factors affecting Iranian living related donors’ motivation for kidney donation fell into three main categories including feelings of love and responsibility, spiritual motives, and knowledge of greater success rate of living related donor transplant. The first category consisted of the two sub-categories of close and constant companionship and inability to tolerate recipient’s discomfort. Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that both personal factors (such as feeling of responsibility and spiritual motives) and organizational factors (such as informing family members about the importance and the benefits of family donation) are among the main motives for kidney donation by living related donors. Employing strategies for promoting these factors could facilitate the process of kidney donation by living related donors.