Minimizing racial disparity regarding receipt of a cadaver kidney transplant (original) (raw)

Racial Inequity in America's ESRD Program

Seminars in Dialysis, 2000

The end-stage renal disease (ESRD) program has a significant overrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority groups. The increased susceptibility of nonwhite populations to ESRD has not been fully explained and probably represents a complex interplay of genetic, cultural, and environmental influences. Because the program delivers care under a uniform health care payment system, it represents a unique environment in which to explore variation in health care delivery. A number of disparities in outcomes and delivery of ESRD care have been noted for racial minority participants. These include possible overdiagnosis of hypertensive nephrosclerosis, decreased provision of renal replacement therapy, limited referral for home dialysis modalities, underprescription of dialysis, increased use of synthetic grafts rather than fistulas as permanent angioaccess,

Possible Effects of the New Medicare Reimbursement Policy on African Americans with ESRD

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2009

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS) proposes to change the method of reimbursement for outpatient hemodialysis such that a fixed payment bundle will cover both outpatient dialysis therapy and injectable medications. The proposal does not include an adjustment for race, although this is up for debate. We aimed to determine if African Americans, compared with whites, continue to

Longitudinal Study of Racial and Ethnic Differences in Developing End-Stage Renal Disease among Aged Medicare Beneficiaries

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2007

Diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes of renal failure. This study investigated racial differences in developing ESRD by participants' diabetes and hypertension status. This longitudinal study included 1,306,825 Medicare beneficiaries who were aged >66 yr at the study start and followed up to 10 yr from January 1, 1993, for the development of ESRD or death. During the 10 yr, 0.93 patients per 100 received ESRD treatment. After adjustment for age and gender, among patients with diabetes, black patients were 2.4 to 2.7 times and other races/ethnicities 1.6 to 1.7 times more likely than white patients to develop ESRD. Among hypertensive patients, black patients were 2.5 to 2.9 and others 1.7 to 1.8 times more likely than white patients to develop ESRD. Among patients with neither diabetes nor hypertension, black patients were 3.5 and others 2.0 times more likely. Black men with diabetes were 1.9 to 2.1 and women 2.5 to 3.4 times more likely than their white counterparts to develop ESRD. Hypertensive black men were 2.1 to 2.2 and women 2.8 to 3.6 times more likely to develop ESRD. The same findings were noted in women of other races/ethnicities. Compared with white counterparts, mortality was higher for black patients in all cohorts but lower among patients with ESRD. Although they are leading causes for renal failure, diabetes and hypertension do not cause racial differences in developing ESRD. Minority women especially are at greater risk for ESRD than white women. Further studies are needed to determine whether earlier initiation of dialysis is a factor in higher ESRD incidence among minorities.

Insurance Type and Minority Status Associated with Large Disparities in Prelisting Dialysis among Candidates for Kidney Transplantation

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2008

Background and objectives: Disparities in time to placement on the waiting list on the basis of socioeconomic factors decrease access to deceased-donor renal transplantation for some groups of patients with end-stage renal disease. This study was undertaken to determine candidate factors that influence duration of dialysis before placement on the waiting list among candidates for deceased-donor renal transplantation in the United States from January 2001 to December 2004 and the impact of Medicare eligibility rules on access.

Racial/ethnic analysis of selected intermediate outcomes for hemodialysis patients: Results from the 1997 ESRD Core Indicators Project

American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 1999

Principal goals of the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Core Indicators Project are to improve the care provided to ESRD patients and to identify categorical variability in intermediate outcomes of dialysis care. The purpose of the current analysis is to extend our observations about the variability of intermediate outcomes of ESRD care among different racial and gender groups to a previously unreported group, Hispanic Americans. This group is a significant and growing minority segment of the ESRD population. A random sample of Medicare-eligible adult, in-center, hemodialysis patients was selected and stratified from an end-of-year ESRD patient census for 1996. Of the 6,858 patients in the final sample, 45% were non-Hispanic whites, 36% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 11% were Hispanic. Whites were older than blacks or Hispanics (P F 0.001). Hispanics were more likely to have diabetes mellitus as a primary diagnosis than either blacks or whites (P F 0.001). Even though they received longer hemodialysis times and were treated with high-flux hemodialyzers, blacks had significantly lower hemodialysis doses than white or Hispanic patients (P F 0.001). The intradialytic weight losses were greater for blacks (P F 0.05). The delivered hemodialysis dose was lower for blacks than for whites or Hispanics whether measured as a urea reduction ratio (URR) or as the Kt/V calculated by the second generation formula of Daugirdas (median 1.32, 1.36, and 1.37, respectively, P F 0.001). Hispanics and whites had modestly higher hematocrits than blacks (33.2, 33.2, and 33.0%, respectively, P F 0.01). There was no significant difference among groups in the weekly prescribed epoetin alfa dose (D172 units/kg/week). A significantly greater proportion of Hispanic patients had transferrin saturations H20% compared with the other two groups (P F 0.001). Logistic regression modeling revealed that whites were significantly more likely to have serum albumin F3.5(BCG)/3.2(BCP) gm/dL (OR 1.4, p F 0.01); blacks were significantly more likely to have a delivered Kt/V F 1.2 (OR 1.4, P F 0.001) and hematocrit F30%, (OR 1.2; P F 0.05) and both blacks and Hispanics were significantly more likely to have a delivered URR F 65% (OR 1.5, P F 0.001 and 1.2, P F 0.05, respectively). This is a US government work. There are no restrictions on its use.

Association of Racial Disparities With Access to Kidney Transplant After the Implementation of the New Kidney Allocation System

JAMA Surgery

IMPORTANCE Inactive patients on the kidney transplant wait-list have a higher mortality. The implications of this status change on transplant outcomes between racial/ethnic groups are unknown. OBJECTIVES To determine if activity status changes differ among races/ethnicities and levels of sensitization, and if these differences are associated with transplant probability after implementation of the Kidney Allocation System. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A multistate model was constructed from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network kidney transplant database (December 4, 2014, to September 8, 2016). The time interval followed Kidney Allocation System implementation and provided at least 1-year follow-up for all patients. The model calculated probabilities between active and inactive status and the following competing risk outcomes: living donor transplant, deceased donor transplant, and death/other. This retrospective cohort study included 42 558 patients on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network kidney transplant wait-list following Kidney Allocation System implementation. To rule out time-varying confounding from relisting, analysis was limited to first-time registrants. Owing to variations in listing practices, primary center listing data were used for dually listed patients. Individuals listed for another organ or pancreatic islets were excluded. Analysis began July 2017. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES Probabilities were determined for transitions between active and inactive status and the following outcome states: active to living donor transplant, active to deceased donor transplant, active to death/other, inactive to living donor transplant, inactive to deceased donor transplant, and inactive to death/other. RESULTS The median (interquartile range) age at listing was 55.0 (18.0-89.0) years, and 26 535 of 42 558 (62.4%) were men. White individuals were 43.3% (n = 18 417) of wait-listed patients, while black and Hispanic individuals made up 27.8% (n = 11 837) and 19.5% (n = 8296), respectively. Patients in the calculated plasma reactive antibody categories of 0% or 1% to 79% showed no statistically significant difference in transplant probability among races/ethnicities. White individuals had an advantage in transplant probability over black individuals in calculated plasma reactive antibody categories of 80% to 89% (hazard ratio [HR], 1.8 [95% CI, 1.4-2.2]) and 90% or higher (HR, 2.4 [95% CI, 2.1-2.6]), while Hispanic individuals had an advantage over black individuals in the calculated plasma reactive antibody group of 90% or higher (HR, 2.5 [95% CI, 2.1-2.8]). Once on the inactive list, white individuals were more likely than Hispanic individuals (HR, 1.2 [95% CI, 1.17-1.3]) or black individuals (HR, 1.4 [95% CI, 1.3-1.4]) to resolve issues for inactivity resulting in activation. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE For patients who are highly sensitized, there continues to be less access to kidney transplant in the black population after the implementation of the Kidney Allocation System. Health disparities continue after listing where individuals from minority groups have greater difficulty in resolving issues of inactivity.

Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Allocation of Expanded Criteria Donor Kidneys

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2013

Background and objectives In carefully selected individuals, receiving expanded criteria donor (ECD) kidneys confer a survival advantage over remaining on dialysis. However, wait lists for ECD kidneys often include a significant proportion of young patients, who have no predictable survival benefit from ECD kidneys. This study hypothesized that educational and socioeconomic factors might influence a younger patient's decision to accept an ECD kidney.

Reducing racial disparities in transplant activation:Whom should we target?

American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 2001

Several studies have documented that blacks with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are less likely than whites to be placed on the waiting list for a renal transplant. We examined trends in access over time to determine whether publication of these reports resulted in a reduction in disparity and identified those blacks who were most affected to focus future interventions. Three nationally representative groups of adult patients with ESRD (first dialysis in 1986 to 1987, 1990, or 1993) were followed up longitudinally to ascertain the date of first placement on the renal transplant waiting list. Cox proportional hazards models were used to characterize the magnitude of racial disparities in access to the waiting list with adjustment for clinical and sociodemographic factors. Lower rates of placement on the waiting list for blacks than whites persisted after adjustment for differences in both sociodemographic characteristics and health status (relative hazard [RH], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.79). The gap between blacks and whites did not narrow over time (blacks versus whites: 1986 to 1987 group, RH, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59 to 0.86; 1990 group, RH, 0.69; 95% Cl, 0.54 to 0.91; 1993 group, RH, 0.57; 0.43 to 0.77) and was greatest for the youngest and healthiest black patients, who were 50% and 40% less likely to be listed than corresponding whites, respectively. Interventions targeted toward young and healthy blacks, who are most likely to benefit from transplantation, are urgently needed to narrow black-white differences in transplant activation.

Unexpected Race and Ethnicity Differences in the US National Veterans Affairs Kidney Transplant Program

Transplantation, 2019

Original Clinical Science-General Background. Racial/ethnic minorities have lower rates of deceased kidney transplantation (DDKT) and living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) in the United States. We examined whether social determinants of health (eg, demographics, cultural, psychosocial, knowledge factors) could account for differences in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Kidney Transplantation (KT) Program. Methods. We conducted a multicenter longitudinal cohort study of 611 Veterans undergoing evaluation for KT at all National VA KT Centers (2010-2012) using an interview after KT evaluation and tracking participants via medical records through 2017. Results. Hispanics were more likely to get any KT (subdistribution hazard ratios [SHR] [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 1.8 [1.2-2.8]) or DDKT (SHR [95% CI]: 2.0 [1.3-3.2]) than non-Hispanic white in univariable analysis. Social determinants of health, including marital status (SHR [95%