Willingness of human immunodeficiency virus‐positive patients to donate their organs for transplantation in Taiwan: a cross‐sectional questionnaire survey

Background With the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) that has significantly improved survival, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients may be potential organ donors to HIV-positive recipients in a few countries. Organ shortage remains a challenge for organ transplantation in Taiwan, where organ donation by HIV-positive patients remains prohibited by law. Methods We assessed the willingness of organ donation (should they be pronounced brain death, and the ban on HIV-positive organ donation be lifted) among HIV-positive patients who received regular HIV care at a university hospital in a cross-sectional survey between May and August 2015 with the use of an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire interview. Results Of the 1010 participants, 93.7% were receiving cART with the latest mean CD4 count and plasma HIV RNA load of 587 cells/mm3 and 2.73 log10 copies/mL, respectively. Overall, 71.9% were willing to donate organs. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with willingness to donate organs included college or graduate school diploma (odds ratio [OR] 1.571, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.166–2.191), registered willingness in the National Health Insurance system (OR 9.430, 95% CI 1.269–70.051), and knowledge of the information on HIV-positive deceased donors (HIVDD) (OR 1.673, 95% CI 1.073–2.608). Conclusions We concluded that a significant proportion (71.9%) of HIV-positive Taiwanese patients were willing to donate their organs. The willingness was associated with a higher education level, prior registered willingness to donate organs, and awareness of HIVDD. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.