Barriers to registering as an organ donor through Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles and steps to overcome them

Background: The national goal of Donate Life America and the Health Resources and Services Administration is to increase the number of organ donor designations from 20% to 33% of the population. Despite many attempts to improve donation rates, organ donor registration nationally remains very low, and lowest among minorities. Donor designations are most commonly made through the state's driver's licensing process. This study identifies barriers to donor registration through Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) to support data-driven local policy in appropriately addressing barriers to reaching the national goal. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 200 people at three community centers and four major licensing bureaus in the Cleveland area. The participant's decision and reason regarding donor designation at the BMV, demographics, willingness to donate on an ordinal scale, personal experience and knowledge on the concept of donation and transplantation were measured. Results: Preliminary results (N=20) indicate greater donor registration and willingness to donate among whites than minorities in a multivariate ordinal logistic regression model after controlling for socio-economic status, age, religious preference, personal experience and knowledge on the concept. Participants electing not to register most frequently indicated “uncertainties” about the implications of the donor designation. Conclusion: Ethnic differences in donor designations at the BMV exist. Results will direct local policy to improve BMV donor yields and guide the educational content of interventions directed at specific communities and BMV employees overseeing the registration process, both of which comprise an important role in the effort to increase organ donation.