F. A. Muthny, C. Wesslau, H. Smit

Relatives, who had experienced the sudden death of a close person, were asked to report their experiences in the hospital by an anonymous questionnaire (months or years later). 61 relatives replied (response rate approx. 20%), the mean age was 50 years, two thirds were women. The cause of the sudden death in most of the cases was some sort of accident (46%) or a disease (45%). In 10% the cause was still unclear from the relatives' point of view. Approx. two thirds of the questioned said, they could well understand the explanations provided on the sensitive topic of 'brain death'; even more had understood the causes for the sudden death of their beloved ones. The request for organ donation by the doctor had predominantly been experienced as adequate. Only half of the relatives knew the will of the deceased with respect to organ donation; in less than one fourth of the cases this will had been fixed in a written document. 90% had agreed with organ donation in principle, among them 23% with some limitations. The main motives for agreement to organ donation were 'altruistic'. Although half of the answering relatives stated, that the decision was not easy, a stable decision was achievd in 90% of the cases. Three thirds of the relatives were satisfied with the way, they had been dealt with in the hospital; only 11% expressed some dissatisfaction.

Key words: sudden death, relatives, organ donation, transplantation, decision conflict

Prof. Dr. Dr. Fritz A. Muthny

Institut für Medizinische Psychologie

Universitätsklinikum Münster (UKM)

Von-Esmarch-Str. 52

D-48149 Münster

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