Author Interviews, Kidney Disease, Transplantation / 06.11.2017
Non-Medical Factors Affect Racial Disparities in Kidney Transplant Wait Lists
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Yue-Harn Ng, MD
University of New Mexico
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: African Americans (AA) have a higher incidence of end-stage renal disease but lower rates of kidney transplantation (KT) compared to whites (WH). Disparities persist after adjusting for medical factors. We assessed the relationship of non-medical (eg. cultural, psychosocial, knowledge) factors with kidney transplantation wait-listing (WL) within the context of racial differences.
In this longitudinal cohort study, we found that African American patients were less likely to be wait-listed compared to White patients. This difference was influenced by factors including age, comorbidities, socio-economic status, being on dialysis, having a living donor, transplant knowledge and social support.
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