A. In the United States, many factors, including lack of awareness and misconceptions about living kidney transplantation, create challenges that limit increasing the live kidney donor pool. This study aims to describe the prominent fears and concerns overcome by non-directed donors (NDDs) during the kidney donation process. B. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 31 NDDs to explore their kidney donation experiences and decision-making processes. Three coders used a general inductive analysis approach to review and code interview transcripts. Afterward, coders met to iteratively refine and rearrange the codes into categories and identify the key emerging themes related to the fears and concerns participants grappled with during the pre-donation period. C. Four major thematic areas were identified, specifically (1) the financial costs incurred by the participant throughout the donation process, (2) the quality of life and general health of participant post-donation, (3) a participant's personal unease or reluctance about meeting their transplant recipient, and (4) the potential for either the participant or a loved one to need a kidney transplant in the future after the donation. D. Primary findings suggest that NDDs have genuine concerns regarding their non-directed donation; also, some NDDs experienced difficulty in reliably accessing sources of information to address their pre-donation concerns and support their decision to become an NDD. Our findings demonstrate an ongoing challenge to ensure that informative kidney donation resources describing the potential medical risks and benefits be readily available to address common fears and concerns associated with the donation process and to provide decision-making tools for future NDD candidates undergoing the donation process.

CITATION INFORMATION: Maghen A, Vargas G, Connor S, Nassiri S, Hicks E, Kwan L, Maliski S, Veale J. Commonly Expressed Living Donation Fears and Concerns by Non-Directed (Altruistic) Living Kidney Donors in the United States. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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