After Major Motorcycle Rallies, More Organs Available for Donation - Medpage Today

Major motorcycle rallies successful the U.S. were linked to an accrued incidence of organ donation and transplant, a retrospective cross-sectional survey showed, suggesting that information measures during these rallies should beryllium implemented.

Compared with the 4 weeks earlier and aft rallies, determination was an estimated 21% much organ donors per time during the rallies (incidence complaint ratio [IRR] 1.21, 95% CI 1.09-1.35, P=0.001), arsenic good arsenic 26% much transplant recipients per time (IRR 1.26, 95% CI 1.12-1.42, P<0.001), reported Anupam Jena, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School successful Boston, and colleagues.

"This amounts to astir 1 further donor oregon 6 further transplant recipients successful these regions for each 2 large motorcycle rallies," they wrote successful JAMA interior Medicine.

"Because the timing of these rallies is plausibly unrelated to request for organs and due to the fact that we recovered nary specified effect for non-motor vehicle-related donor deaths, our findings are apt owed to an summation successful motorcycle usage successful areas wherever ample rallies are held," Jena and squad noted.

Over 9 days -- the mean duration of a motorcycle rally -- the nett effect of motorcycle rallies resulted successful 14% much organ donors and 19% much transplant recipients per time during rally dates versus non-rally dates (IRR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01-1.30, P=0.04).

"During motorcycle rally weeks successful distant regions not containing motorcycle rallies, determination was nary summation successful the fig of organ donations oregon transplants, suggesting that our observed main effect was associated with the rallies alternatively than different temporal factors specified arsenic abrogation travel," the authors wrote.

In an accompanying editorial, Grace Yuan Zhang, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and Mitchell Katz, MD, of NYC Health + Hospitals successful New York City, noted that "these findings are not astonishing fixed the precocious mortality associated with motorcycle accidents."

"Professional and societal organizations associated with high-risk sports (not conscionable motorcycle riding but others specified arsenic base-jumping, outdoor climbing, glacier hiking, skydiving, oregon canyoning) should promote participants to specify that they privation to donate their organs erstwhile they dice successful the future," they added. "The findings of [this study] supply a reminder to signifier information portion practicing high-risk activities and to see opting-in to go an organ donor to assistance prevention lives."

Over 100,000 radical were connected a hold database for a coagulated organ transplant arsenic of January, Jena's radical noted. Demand continues to transcend supply, with lone 33,000 transplants performed successful 2021. Deceased donors accounted for 84% of each transplanted organs, and traumatic wounded caused by centrifugal conveyance accidents accounted for 11% of each organ donors.

Motorcyclists without helmets person been shown to beryllium three times much likely to go organ donors aft being progressive successful fatal crashes compared with rider conveyance motorists. Moreover, successful states wherever motorcycle helmets were antecedently required by law, repeal of this law was associated with higher rates of crash-related deceased organ donation.

For this study, Jena and colleagues utilized information from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients connected 10,798 organ donors ages 16 and up who died aft being progressive successful a centrifugal conveyance clang and 35,329 organ recipients from these donors from March 2005 to September 2021.

They looked astatine 7 rallies, including the Atlantic Beach Bikefest successful South Carolina, the Bikes, Blues & BBQ successful Arkansas, Daytona Bike Week successful Florida, Laconia Motorcycle Week successful New Hampshire, Myrtle Beach Bike Week Spring Rally successful South Carolina, the Republic of Texas Biker Rally successful Austin, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally successful South Dakota.

During the rally dates, determination were 406 organ donors and 1,400 transplant recipients compared with 2,332 organ donors and 7,714 transplant recipients during the 4 weeks earlier and aft the rallies.

Of the donors, 70.9% were men, and mean property was 32.5, portion 64% of organ recipients were men, and mean property was 49.3. Kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplants were astir common.

Similar baseline and objective characteristics of donors and recipients, including recipient waiting clip and illness severity, were observed during the rally and non-rally dates. However, much donors during rallies were from radical number groups compared with donors during non-rally dates (19% vs 14%, P=0.01).

Jena and squad noted that the observational plan of the study, arsenic good arsenic imaginable residual confounding, were survey limitations. The survey besides did not measure whether the summation successful organ transplants during the rallies improved transplant outcomes.