Reluctant acceptance of xenotransplantation in kidney patients on the waiting list for transplantation

Leonieke W. Kranenburg, Chantal Kerssens, Jan N.M. Ijzermans, Willij Zuidema, Willem Weimar and Jan J.V. Busschbach

Social Science & Medicine, 2005, vol. 61, issue 8, 1828-1834

Abstract: Previous research has shown contradictory results regarding the acceptance of xenotransplantation (XT) by kidney patients. This variance in attitude towards XT could be explained by differences in knowledge of XT, the availability of alternative treatment options, specific beliefs and cognitions of the patient, and differences in the health status of the patients. We studied 61 patients in this contention in the Netherlands waiting for a kidney transplant. All took part in in-depth interviews and filled out questionnaires on two occasions, once before and once after an information brochure on XT had been read. We found that a better health status is correlated with a greater acceptance of XT, but only before information was given. After information had been given, the acceptance of XT decreased significantly. However, if XT is the only possibility in a life-threatening situation, almost all patients are willing to accept XT, except for a small group (approximately 10-15%) with fundamental religious and/or spiritual objections against such treatment. When alternative treatment options such as a human cadaver donor, a living related donor or commercial donor are offered, the majority of patients would prefer those to XT. The main reason for reluctance is uncertainty about the risks of XT to personal health. Because alternatives are currently available, we expect that XT will become more popular only if future results of this procedure have proved to be comparable to transplantation with a human donor kidney.

Keywords: Xenotransplantation; Kidney; patients; Information; Ethics; Organ; donation; The; Netherlands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00126-7
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:8:p:1828-1834

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().