title: A public opinion survey: is presumed consent the answer to kidney shortage in Hong Kong?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To project the impact of an opt-out system (presuming consent) in Hong Kong on the likelihood that a potential donor donates his or her kidneys after death and the likelihood of violating a potential donor's autonomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional population-based anonymous telephone survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Random sample of 802 adults aged between 18 and 64.
  
  
  METHODS
  Willingness to donate their own kidneys after death and their willingness to donate the kidneys of a deceased family member in different hypothetical situations under the current opt-in system and under our proposed soft version of an opt-out system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When the wish of the deceased is unknown, 72.6% (n=583) of the respondents said that under the proposed opt-out system, they would definitely or likely consent to donating the kidneys of a deceased family member, significantly more than under the current opt-in system (OR 2.53, 95% CI 2.06 to 3.11). An opt-out system could significantly improve the projected overall donation potential from 0.631 to 0.771 (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.58-2.45) and reduce the projected overall chance of violating the autonomy of a potential donor from 0.292 to 0.127 (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.45).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A switch to an opt-out system in Hong Kong would likely result in the wishes of more people being followed and raise the overall cadaveric kidney donation rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy,  University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong,  Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Tak Kwong
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Benjamin John
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cowling
authors.forename: George Lim
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Tipoe