African Americans' knowledge about organ donation: closing the gap with more effective persuasive message strategies.

In spite of increasing interest in the area of African Americans' willingness to donate organs, little empirical knowledge exists that can be used to create more effective public communication campaigns. In this study, 310 African Americans responded to seven knowledge items (based on myths and misconceptions about organ donation) shown in past studies to discriminate between donors and nondonors. The rate of accurate responses varied from 33% to 78% to individual knowledge items. Beliefs that the organ allocation system is inequitable (favoring whites and the rich) and the belief that donors pay extra medical bills strongly distinguished donors from nondonors. In addition, the information sources reported by African Americans willing to donate were more likely to include family members. Implications of these findings to the development of more effective organ donation campaigns targeting African Americans are offered.