Registration for deceased organ and tissue donation among Ontario immigrants: a population-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND Canada has low rates of deceased organ and tissue donation. Immigrants to Canada may differ in their registered support for deceased organ donation based on their country of origin. METHODS We used linked administrative databases in Ontario (about 11 million residents aged ≥ 16 yr) to study the proportion of immigrants and long-term residents registered for deceased organ and tissue donation as of October 2013. We used modified Poisson regression to identify and quantify predictors of donor registration. RESULTS Compared with long-term residents (n = 9 244 570), immigrants (n = 1 947 646) were much less likely to register for deceased organ and tissue donation (11.9% v. 26.5%). Immigrants from the United States, Australia and New Zealand had the highest registration rate (40.0%), whereas immigrants with the lowest registration rates were from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (9.4%), East Asia and Pacific (8.4%) and sub-Saharan Africa (7.9%). The largest numbers of unregistered immigrants were from India (n = 202 548), China (n = 186 678) and the Philippines (n = 125 686). Characteristics among the immigrant population associated with a higher likelihood of registration included economic immigrant status, living in a rural area (population < 10 000), living in an area with a lower ethnic concentration, less material deprivation, a higher education, ability to speak English and French, and more years residing in Canada. INTERPRETATION Immigrants in Ontario were less likely to register for deceased organ and tissue donation than long-term residents. There is a need to better understand reasons for lower registration rates among Canadian immigrants and to create culture-sensitive materials to build support for deceased organ and tissue donation.