The Likelihood Of Being Assessed For Kidney Transplantation May Depend On Race, Insurance Status

Date: Jul-29-2012A kidney transplant is the best treatment for kidney failure, which afflicts 2 million people worldwide.

Young black patients and patients without private health insurance are less likely to be assessed for a kidney transplant when they start dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). These patients are also less likely to be put on the transplant waiting list and to receive a transplant.

A kidney transplant is the best treatment for a patient with kidney failure. When patients start dialysis, they should be assessed for a kidney transplant so they can be referred to a transplant center and be placed on the transplant waiting list if they are eligible.

In 2005, Medicare began collecting data on whether patients were informed of their transplant options when they started dialysis. When Kirsten Johansen, MD (University of California, San Francisco), Rachel Patzer, PhD (Emory University School of Medicine), and their colleagues at the USRDS Rehabilitation/Quality of Life Special Studies Center analyzed these and other data from 2005 to 2009, they found that young (chronic kidney disease and diagnosis of kidney failure," said Dr. Patzer.

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.