Black, white women with ESKD experience reduced transplant access
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Among patients awaiting a renal transplant, Black and white women experienced unequal access to wait lists compared with white men, according to presented data.
“Improving access to kidney transplantation, the optimal treatment for patients with end-stage kidney disease, requires an intersectional and regional approach that addresses systemic racism and gender disparities,” Reem Hamoda, MPH, MD Candidate, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, said during her presentation at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meetings, which was held as a virtual event.
Hamoda presented results on a retrospective cohort study of more than 1 million adults on dialysis with information in the U.S. Renal Data System to ascertain the relationship between patient demographics and being wait listed for a renal transplant. Investigators assessed differences in wait listing by patients’ race, ethnicity and sex and applied a time-dependent covariate for kidney allocation system policy time period.
Of the patients included in the study, 19.4% were waitlisted for a renal transplant. Across 16 of 18 end-stage renal disease networks analyzed, Black and white women experienced hindered waitlist access compared with white men, and across six networks, Black women experienced unequal waitlist access compared with white women.
Overall, Black women (HR = 0.74) and white women (HR = 0.82) experienced a significantly lower likelihood of being wait listed compared with white men, according to the study. Black men and Hispanic women also exhibited decreased access to a transplant waitlist.
“We found that compared to white men, white and Black women were 18% to 26% less likely to be placed on the waiting list for kidney transplantation, even after accounting for relevant clinical and socioeconomic factors,” Hamoda said in a press release about the study.
“Despite the sobering nature of these results, we believe there is hope and opportunity. We want all patients with ESKD to ask their providers about transplant, advocate for themselves and partner with their health care team.”
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Hamoda R, et al. ESRD network-level variation in racial/ethnic and sex disparities in renal transplant waitlisting. Presented at: National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meetings (virtual meting); April 6-10, 2021.
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