Telephone consent in tissue donation: effectiveness and efficiency in postmortem tissue generation

One reason for the loss of donors is the impossibility to contact family members for an interview. We sought to determine the effectiveness (donors/total deaths) x 100] and efficiency (donors/potential donors) x 100] of the telephone interview to obtain tissue for transplant purposes. METHODS: A prospective, comparative cross-sectional study was performed on the personal and telephone interviews with family members during the tissue donation application process from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005. RESULTS: Of the 3625 deaths hospital registered, we obtained 770 potential donors (21%). On 65% of occasions (503/770), the interview was held personally; on 29% (222/770), it had to be held over the telephone; and on 6% (45/770), family members could not be located. The refusals by family members over the telephone represented 48% (106/222), and the refusals during personal interviews were 37% (188/503). A positive family answer was obtained over the telephone on 116/431 donations (27%), and in the physical presence of the coordinator for 315/431 donors (73%). The donations obtained over the telephone were only for corneas in 83% (96/116) of cases, and for multiple tissues in 17% (20/116). The donor-generation effectiveness reached 9% in personal interviews and 12% if the telephone interviews were included. The donor generation efficiency reached 43% for personal interviews and 59% when telephone interviews were included. The use of the telephone enabled a 16% increase in tissue generation with a year-on-year increase of 4%. CONCLUSIONS: The telephone has shown itself to be a useful tool for obtaining tissues postmortem.