The Comparison of Depression and Consent in Families of Brain Dead Patients in Donor and Non-donor Groups

The fact that some of the organs of a brain dead patient are still living, might make it difficult for the patient’s family to shift from denial to the acceptance of the patient’s death. Therefore, the present study was carried out to compare depression between two groups of fa-milies of brain dead patients (namely donor and non-donor) and the degree of their satisfac-tion of the medical organization. This is a descriptive-cross sectional study. The subjects consisted of first-degree rela- tives of brain dead patients. Fifty four subjects from 27 donor families and 104 subjects from 58 non-donor families were selected using the counting method. These subjects had lost at least one of their first-degree relatives because of brain death, between the years 1380 and 1384 in the province of Tehran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and Beck Depres-sion Inventory (BDI). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Depression was present in 20.4% of donor and 17.3% of non-donor families but the di- fference was not statistically significant. The comparison of the degree of depression between the families of donor patients and the non-donor patients as well as their spouses and children also did not show any significant difference. Nevertheless, 66% and 32% of the donor relatives con- sidered ‘organ donation’ to be completely effective and effective to some degree in overcoming grief, respectively. Organ donation does not have an effect on the degree of later depression and the course of grief in the relatives of brain dead patients.