Predictors and Moderators of Educational Interventions to Increase the Likelihood of Potential Living Donors for Black Patients Awaiting Kidney Transplantation.

Our aim was to identify predictors and moderators of the effects of a house calls (HC) educational intervention, relative to a group-based (GB) intervention and to individual counseling (IC), in a randomized controlled trial to increase the likelihood of having living donor (LD) evaluations initiated and live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Black adults wait listed for kidney transplantation (N = 152) were randomized into one of the three educational conditions. We examined demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and socio-contextual baseline characteristics as predictors and moderators of having a potential LD initiate evaluation. HC assignment (OR = 2.024.7311.05, P = 0.001), younger age (OR = 0.910.940.98, P = 0.001), more willingness to discuss donation with others (OR = 1.081.371.75, P = 0.01), and larger social network (OR = 1.011.091.18, P = 0.04) were significant multivariable predictors of having ≥1 LD initiate evaluation. Age (P = 0.03) and social network size (P = 0.02) moderated the effect of HC relative to IC and GB, but not GB relative to IC, on LD evaluation initiation. Our findings suggest that HC is most effective for patients <60 years old and those with average or large social network size.

Readiness of wait-listed black patients to pursue live donor kidney transplant.

CONTEXT: For adults with end-stage kidney disease, live donor kidney transplant (LDKT) has better outcomes than long-term dialysis and deceased donor kidney transplant. However, black patients receive LDKT at a much lower rate than adults of any other race or ethnicity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the LDKT readiness stage of black patients on the transplant waiting list and its association with LDKT knowledge, concerns, and willingness. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial to improve knowledge and reduce concerns about LDKT.Patients and Setting-One hundred fifty-two black patients on the kidney transplant waiting list at a single transplant center in the northeastern United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LDKT readiness stage, knowledge, concerns, and willingness to talk to others about living donation. RESULTS: Sixty percent of patients were not considering or not yet ready to pursue LDKT, and only 11% had taken action to talk to family members or friends about the possibility of living kidney donation. Patients in later stages of LDKT readiness (ie, who had talked to others about donation or were preparing to do so) had significantly more knowledge (P<.001), fewer concerns (P=.002), and more willingness (P=.001) to talk to others about living donation than those in earlier readiness stages. CONCLUSIONS: The large percentage of black patients who are in the earlier stages of LDKT readiness may account for the low rate of LDKT in this patient population at our transplant center. Innovative and tailored LDKT educational strategies for black patients are needed to help reduce racial disparities in LDKT.

Making house calls increases living donor inquiries and evaluations for blacks on the kidney transplant waiting list.

BACKGROUND: Blacks receive live donor kidney transplant (LDKT) less often than patients of all other races. We evaluated the effectiveness of educational interventions in removing barriers to LDKT for blacks. METHODS: Patients were randomized to three interventions in which health educator(s) delivered an intervention to (a) the patient and his/her guests in the patient's home (house calls [HC], n=54), (b) clusters of patients and their guests in the transplant center (group based [GB], n=49), and (c) the individual patient alone in the transplant center (individual counseling [IC], n=49). RESULTS: At the 2-year endpoint, 15% (n=8), 8% (n=4), and 6% (n=3) of HC, GB, and IC patients, respectively, received LDKT (P=0.30). Patients in the HC group were more likely than patients in the GB and IC groups to have at least one donor inquiry (82% vs. 61% vs. 47%, P=0.001) and evaluation (65% vs. 39% vs. 27%, P<0.001). Patients in the HC group also were more likely to have higher knowledge, fewer concerns, and higher willingness to talk to others about donation 6 weeks after intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of including the patient's social network in LDKT education and the potential of the HC intervention to reduce racial disparity in LDKT rates.

Willingness to pursue live-donor kidney transplantation among waitlisted patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): a preliminary investigation.

We show that HIV-infected waitlisted patients (n=33) had significantly lower knowledge (P<0.001), more concerns (P=0.01), and lower willingness to pursue live-donor kidney transplantation (LDKT; P=0.02) than matched noninfected patients. The majority (78%) of patients felt that their HIV status reduced their chance of LDKT. Although limited to a single center and a small sample, our data suggest that HIV-infected patients who are waitlisted for kidney transplantation may need more education about the potential benefits of LDKT and may benefit from patient-centered decision support to facilitate a risk-benefit assessment consistent with their preferences and values.