The acceptances and associated influences of body donation in Mainland China: a national cross-sectional study

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 13920 - 11
• Main Authors: Wu, Jian, Zhang, Xinyue, Xiang, Ze, Li, Yiqi, Hu, Zihao, Chen, Tianle, Zhou, Jianmin, Sun, Xinying, Wu, Yibo, Yi, Yuyang, Wang, Yinlin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22.04.2025; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/700; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Body donation; China; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cross-sectional study; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Influencing factors; Mainland China; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Public acceptance; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Surveys and Questionnaires; Tissue and Organ Procurement; Tissue Donors - psychology; Young Adult; China; Mainland China; Cross-sectional study; Body donation; Public acceptance; Influencing factors
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-98401-5

The inadequate body donors have restricted the development of medical sciences in some ways in mainland China. However, the investigation of potential donors may change the status quo of body donation. From July 10th to September 15th, 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional, multi-stage sampling study collected demographic data and individuals’ willingness to accept body donation from 120 cities in mainland China. A stepwise linear regression analysis was adopted. 11,031 valid samples were collected for this survey. The willingness to donate body among Chinese residents averaged 53.66 points. To be specific, patients with a different number of children (1: β=-0.05; 2: β=-0.04; ≥3: β= -0.03) are less willing to donate their organs while respondents who live in an urban area (β = 0.03), have higher education level (high school or junior college: β = 0.04, such as a bachelor degree or above: β = 0.09), feel anxious (mild, moderate β = 0.02), feel pressured (moderate: β = 0.08; severe: β = 0.09), have higher scores of the Short-Form Health Literacy Instrument (HLS-SF12) (β = 0.30), Chronic Disease Self-Management Study Measures (CDSMS) (β = 0.18) and EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) (β = 0.23), are more positive to donate. In this study, we discovered that Chinese residents’ acceptance level of body donation is affected by age, gender, housing, educational levels, anxiety, pressure, social support, and health literacy, among which health literacy plays a key role in residents’ attitudes towards body donation. This study firstly discusses the public acceptance of body donation through a nationwide sample around mainland China.