Study Protocol for ‘Informing American Muslims about Organ Donation (I AM a LD)’

A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial Evaluating the Effect of Religiously-Tailored Health Education

Abstract

Background: American Muslims tend to hold more negative attitudes towards organ donation than other American populations, and these attitudes are contributed to by gaps in biomedical and religious knowledge. As a result, there is significant need for religiously-tailored health education on organ donation within this community. Thus our study sought to test the effectiveness of a mosque-based, religiously-tailored health education program that addressed biomedical and religious knowledge gaps regarding living organ donation amongst Muslim Americans.

Methods: A randomized, controlled, cross-over trial of religiously-tailored educational workshops held at four mosques in Washington D.C. and Chicagoland. Mosques are randomized into early and late intervention arms and participants are recruited at worship services and other mosque events. The primary study outcomes are changes in biomedical and religious knowledge regarding living organ donation. Secondary outcomes include change in procedural knowledge about the process and types of living organ donation, beliefs regarding organ donation, and religious knowledge regarding end-of-life care.

Funding and Ethics: This study is supported by a grant from the U.S. Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration and received ethics approval from the University of Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division Institutional Review Board.