Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial

Objective: To test whether simply asking people to rate the extent to which they anticipate feeling regret for not registering as an organ donor after death increases subsequent verified organ donor registration. Methods: 14,509 members of the general public (both registered and non-registered donor...

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Main Authors: O'Carroll, Ronan E., Shepherd, Lee, Hayes, Peter C., Ferguson, Eamonn
Format: Article
Published: American Psychological Association 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33090/
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author O'Carroll, Ronan E.
Shepherd, Lee
Hayes, Peter C.
Ferguson, Eamonn
author_facet O'Carroll, Ronan E.
Shepherd, Lee
Hayes, Peter C.
Ferguson, Eamonn
author_sort O'Carroll, Ronan E.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Objective: To test whether simply asking people to rate the extent to which they anticipate feeling regret for not registering as an organ donor after death increases subsequent verified organ donor registration. Methods: 14,509 members of the general public (both registered and non-registered donors) were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 arms, each receiving different questionnaires. The no-questionnaire control (NQC) arm received a survey measuring demographics and whether or not they were registered organ donors. The questionnaire control (QC) arm completed the NQC questions plus questions regarding affective attitudes and intention to register as an organ donor. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) questionnaire arm received the QC questionnaire, plus additional items measuring TPB variables. The anticipated regret (AR) arm received the TPB questionnaire, plus two additional items measuring anticipated regret. The main outcome measures were number of non-donor participants who subsequently registered six months later, as verified by the UK national transplant register. Results: Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis in non-registered donors (N = 9,139) revealed the NQC arm were more likely to register as an organ donor (6.39%) compared to the AR (4.51%) arm. Conclusions: A brief anticipated regret intervention led to a decrease in registration. A potential reason is discussed in terms of questionnaire item content “priming” negative perceptions of organ donation. This is a methodological concern that needs to be addressed in studies that use similar interventions. Current controlled trials: www.controlled-trials.com number: ISRCTN922048897.
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spelling nottingham-330902020-05-04T18:14:12Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33090/ Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial O'Carroll, Ronan E. Shepherd, Lee Hayes, Peter C. Ferguson, Eamonn Objective: To test whether simply asking people to rate the extent to which they anticipate feeling regret for not registering as an organ donor after death increases subsequent verified organ donor registration. Methods: 14,509 members of the general public (both registered and non-registered donors) were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 arms, each receiving different questionnaires. The no-questionnaire control (NQC) arm received a survey measuring demographics and whether or not they were registered organ donors. The questionnaire control (QC) arm completed the NQC questions plus questions regarding affective attitudes and intention to register as an organ donor. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) questionnaire arm received the QC questionnaire, plus additional items measuring TPB variables. The anticipated regret (AR) arm received the TPB questionnaire, plus two additional items measuring anticipated regret. The main outcome measures were number of non-donor participants who subsequently registered six months later, as verified by the UK national transplant register. Results: Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis in non-registered donors (N = 9,139) revealed the NQC arm were more likely to register as an organ donor (6.39%) compared to the AR (4.51%) arm. Conclusions: A brief anticipated regret intervention led to a decrease in registration. A potential reason is discussed in terms of questionnaire item content “priming” negative perceptions of organ donation. This is a methodological concern that needs to be addressed in studies that use similar interventions. Current controlled trials: www.controlled-trials.com number: ISRCTN922048897. American Psychological Association 2016-11-01 Article PeerReviewed O'Carroll, Ronan E., Shepherd, Lee, Hayes, Peter C. and Ferguson, Eamonn (2016) Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial. Health Psychology, 35 (11). pp. 1169-1177. ISSN 1930-7810 organ donation anticipated regret randomized controlled trial http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayrecord&uid=2016-28258-001 doi:10.1037/hea0000363 doi:10.1037/hea0000363
spellingShingle organ donation
anticipated regret
randomized controlled trial
O'Carroll, Ronan E.
Shepherd, Lee
Hayes, Peter C.
Ferguson, Eamonn
Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title_full Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title_fullStr Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title_short Anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
title_sort anticipated regret and organ donor registration: a randomised controlled trial
topic organ donation
anticipated regret
randomized controlled trial
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33090/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33090/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33090/