Muslim transplant recipients' family experiences following organ transplantation.

Background: Despite the importance of family and its relationship to positive transplant outcomes, little is known about family experiences following organ transplantation from the perspective of the transplant recipients. The literature is also devoid of information that describes the family experiences of Muslim transplant recipients.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to describe Muslim transplant recipients' family experiences following organ transplantation.

Methods: A hermeneutical phenomenological approach was employed to determine the emergent themes present in the data. The sample was composed of 12 Muslim organ transplant recipients (heart, kidney and liver) living in Iran. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant.

Results: The primary constitutive pattern that emerged from the interview data was 'Altered Family Relationships' and three themes: fear in relationships, abnormal relationships, and the family at the centre of organ transplant issues.

Conclusions: There are several important findings in this study, notably that Muslim transplant recipients describe their family experiences following organ transplantation as 'altered' and not as they were pre-transplant. More research is needed that focuses on the family experience post-transplant, and how Muslim transplant recipient families are impacted by the transplant experience.