Kidney Transplant Waitlist: Weak Patients Have Lesser Chances of Being Listed

Frailty or weakness can lower a patient’s chances of receiving a kidney transplant and of even being placed in the kidney transplant waitlist. The findings of this study are going to be discussed at ASN Kidney Week 2018 October 23-October 28 at the San Diego Convention Center. To investigate whether frailty in patients with kidney failure may affect their likelihood of receiving a kidney transplant, Christine Haugen, MD (Johns Hopkins Hospital) and her colleagues studied 7078 potential kidney transplant candidates from 2009 to 2017. Patients were considered frail if they had 3 or more of the following components: unintentional weight loss decreased grip strength, slowed walking speed, and low activity.

Frail participants were 38% less likely to be listed for transplantation, had a nearly twofold increased risk of dying while on the transplant waitlist mortality, and underwent transplantation at a 35% lower rate than nonfrail participants.

"Prehabilitation may be a useful tool to increase physiologic reserve and subsequently improve access to kidney transplantation among frail patients," said Dr. Haugen.

Source-Eurekalert