UC San Francisco and Emory University researchers analyzing data from 2005 to 2009, have found that race and insurance are major factors in assessment for kidney transplantation. They discovered that young black patients (less than 35 years of age) and patients without private health insurance were less likely to be assessed as candidates for kidney transplantation upon starting dialysis. They were also less likely to be put on the transplant waiting list and less likely to receive a kidney transplant.
These findings are significant, given a recent Johns Hopkins study that revealed that younger African American dialysis patients aged 18 to 30 are twice as likely to die as white patients. According to Rachel Patzer, PhD, a researcher at Emory University School of Medicine, “Disparities in the assessment of patients for transplant could be reduced with interventions designed to encourage providers to assess patients as early as possible in the course of late-stage chronic kidney disease and diagnosis of kidney failure.”
Source:
Race and Insurance a Big Factor in Being Assessed for Kidney Transplantation, Red Orbit, July 27, 2012