Landscape of Attitudes Towards Living Kidney Donation During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the United States: Results of a Public Opinion Survey

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Solid organ transplantation decreased during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic largely due to temporary shutdowns. The pandemic revealed significant gaps in medical knowledge among the public;disinformation, distrust, and the advent of SARS-CoV-2 may have lingering effects on transplantation rates. We hypothesize that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has influenced interest in living kidney donation (LKD) among members of the public. Method(s) We surveyed 900 US adults (ages 25-65) in June 2021 about LKD knowledge, attitudes, perceived barriers/facilitators, and impact of the pandemic on their interest in LKD. We evaluated the relationships between self-reported characteristics and interest in LKD using Chi-square tests. Result(s) The experience of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic increased interest in LKD for 12% of participants, decreased interest for 9%, and had no impact for 79%. Increased interest in LKD was significantly associated with White race (White only vs. Asian only 12.4% vs. 9.4%, p=0.005), younger age (25-34 vs. 55-65 16.7% vs. 6.1%, p<0.0001 and 35-44 vs. 55-65 15.9% vs. 6.1%, p<0.0001), male gender (16.3% vs. 8.5%, p= 0.001), higher income ($100,000-149,000 vs. <$50,000 18.9% vs. 7.5%, p=0.0008), and higher educational attainment (4-year degree vs. some college 14.4% vs. 6.07%, p=0.0012 and post-graduate degree vs. some college 21.5% vs. 6.1%, p= <0.0001). Conclusion(s) The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic only impacted 21% of participants' interest in LKD, highlighting an unexpected externality of the pandemic. These findings unveil new opportunities for community engagement and population groups to target in future education and outreach campaigns.