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Racial and ethnic disparities in kidney transplantation

  1. Sayeed K. Malek1,
  2. Brandon J. Keys2,
  3. Sanjaya Kumar3,
  4. Edgar Milford4,
  5. Stefan G. Tullius5

Article first published online: 17 DEC 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2010.01205.x

Issue

Transplant International

Transplant International

Volume 24, Issue 5, pages 419–424, May 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Malek, S. K., Keys, B. J., Kumar, S., Milford, E. and Tullius, S. G. (2011), Racial and ethnic disparities in kidney transplantation. Transplant International, 24: 419–424. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2010.01205.x

Author Information

  1. 1

     Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

  2. 2

     Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

  3. 3

     Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

  4. 4

     Division of Nephrology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

  5. 5

     Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

*Sayeed Khan Malek MD, FACS, Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Tel.: +1 617 7326446; fax: +1 617 5826167; e-mail: smalek@partners.org

  1. Conflicts of Interest The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 5 APR 2011
  2. Article first published online: 17 DEC 2010
  3. Received: 30 July 2010 Revision requested: 6 September 2010 Accepted: 15 November 2010 Published online: 17 December 2010

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Keywords:

  • disparities;
  • ethnicity;
  • kidney transplantation;
  • outcome

Summary

Success of renal transplantation, as a viable alternative to dialysis, has been tempered by long-standing racial disparities. Ethnic minorities have less access to transplantation, are less likely to be listed for transplantation, and experience a higher rate of graft failure. Reasons for the existing racial disparities at various stages of the transplantation process are complex and multi-factorial. They include a combination of behavioral, social, environmental, and occupational factors, as well as potential intended or unintended discrimination within the healthcare system. Immunologic factors such as human leukocyte antigen matching, composition of the organ donor pool, and patient immune response, all of which affect post-transplantation graft rejection rates and patient survival, also contribute to health disparities between ethnic groups.

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