Influence of religious and spiritual values on the willingness of Chinese-Americans to donate organs for transplantation

The rate of organ donation among minority groups in the United States, incl uding Chinese-Americans, is very low. There is currently very little data i n the biomedical literature that builds on qualitative research to quantify the attitudes of Chinese-Americans toward organ donation. The present stud y quantitatively assesses the religious and cultural reasons that Chinese-A mericans appear to be less willing to donate their organs than other popula tions. It also seeks to determine whether Confucian, Buddhist, or Daoist id eals are a significant factor in their overall reluctance to donate organs among respondents in this sample. A questionnaire distributed to Chinese-Am erican adults asked about general feelings toward organ donation and Buddhi st, Confucian, Christian, Daoist, and other spiritual objections. The resul ts suggest that Chinese-Americans are indeed influenced by Confucian values , and to a lesser extent, Buddhist, Daoist, and other spiritual beliefs, th at associate an intact body with respect for ancestors or nature. Another s ignificant finding is that the subjects were most willing to donate their o rgans after their deaths, to close relatives, and then in descending order, distant relatives, people from their home country, and strangers. This 'ne gotiable' willingness has enormous implications for clinicians, who may be able to increase organ donation rates among Chinese-Americans by, first, re cognizing their diverse spiritual beliefs, and, second, offering a variety of possibilities for the organ procurement and allocation.