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Washington, DC (February 4, 2016) -- A new study reveals significantly reduced disparities in health outcomes among black and white kidney transplant recipients over the past 2 decades. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
While kidney transplantation is the best available therapy for most patients with kidney failure, studies have found that black transplant recipients tend to experience poorer outcomes--such as kidney rejection and premature death--compared with white recipients.
To examine whether this disparity has improved in recent decades, Tanjala Purnell, PhD, MPH, Dorry Segev, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), and their colleagues compared information on 63,910 black and 145,482 white adults who received a first-time live donor kidney transplant (LDKT) or deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT) in the United States between 1990 and 2012. "We hypothesized that advances in immunosuppression and post-transplant management might differentially benefit black kidney transplant recipients, who were disproportionately burdened by immunological barriers, and contribute to reduced racial disparities in kidney transplant outcomes," said Dr. Purnell.
Among the major findings:
"Our research demonstrates a dramatic improvement in kidney transplant outcomes for black patients and a significant reduction in the disparity in kidney transplant outcomes between black and white patients," said Dr. Purnell. "This finding is important because it may provide nephrologists and patients with added confidence to aggressively promote access to transplantation in the black community."
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Study co-authors include Xun Luo, MD, MPH; Lauren M. Kucirka, PhD; Lisa Cooper, MD MPH; Deidra Crews, MD, ScM; Allan Massie, PhD; and L. Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH.
Disclosures: The authors reported no financial disclosures. The authors were supported by research grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The article, entitled "Reduced Racial Disparity in Kidney Transplant Outcomes in the United States from 1990 to 2012," will appear online at http://jasn.asnjournals.org/ on February 4, 2016, doi: 10.1681/ASN.2015030293.
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Founded in 1966, and with nearly 16,000 members, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) leads the fight against kidney disease by educating health professionals, sharing new knowledge, advancing research, and advocating the highest quality care for patients.
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology