Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39048955›Full record

ArticleBMC nephrology2024

Setting reasonable goals for kidney transplant referral among dialysis facilities.

Jessica L Harding, Meredith A Dixon, Mengyu Di, Julien Hogan, Stephen O Pastan, Rachel E Patzer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC nephrology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jessica L HardingDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Jessica.harding@emory.edu.
Meredith A DixonDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Mengyu DiRegenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Julien HoganDepartment of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Stephen O PastanDepartment of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Rachel E PatzerDepartment of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDetermining whether a patient is eligible for kidney transplantation is complex. In this study, we estimate what proportion of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) might have been suitable candidates for kidney transplantation but were not referred.

methodsWe identified 43,952 people initiating dialysis for kidney failure between 2012 and 2017 in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, or South Carolina from the United States Renal Data System and linked to the Early-Steps to Transplant Access Registry to obtain data on referral and waitlisting up until December 2020. We identified 'good transplant candidates' as those who were waitlisted within 2-years of referral, among all patients referred within 1-year of dialysis initiation. Using propensity score cut-offs, logistic regression, and area under the curve (AUC), we then estimated the proportion of individuals who may have been good transplant candidates, but were not referred.

resultsOverall, 42.6% of incident dialysis patients were referred within one year and among them, 32.9% were waitlisted within 2 years of referral. Our model had reasonably good discrimination for identifying good transplant candidates with an AUC of 0.70 (95%CI 0.69-0.71), sensitivity of 0.68 and specificity of 0.61. Overall, 25% of individuals not referred for transplant may have been 'good' transplant candidates. Adding these patients to the existing 18,725 referred patients would increase the proportion of incident ESKD patients being referred within one year from 42.6% to 57.2% (a ~ 14.6% increase).

conclusionsIn this study, we show that a significant proportion of potentially good transplant candidates are not being referred for transplant. A ~ 14% increase in the proportion of patients being referred from dialysis facilities is both a meaningful and realistic goal and could lead to more qualified patients being referred and subsequently waitlisted for a lifesaving transplant.

Indexed as

Kidney Failure, ChronicKidney TransplantationReferral and ConsultationRenal DialysisWaiting ListsAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNorth CarolinaPatient SelectionRegistriesEnd-stage kidney diseaseKidney transplantationReferral

Identifiers

PMID39048955
PMCPMC11270779

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.