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Association Of Marital Status With Access To Renal Transplantation

  1. M. W. Khattak1,3,*,
  2. G. S. Sandhu1,
  3. R. Woodward4,
  4. J. S. Stoff5,
  5. A. S. Goldfarb-Rumyantzev1,2

Article first published online: 10 NOV 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2010.03318.x

Issue

American Journal of Transplantation

American Journal of Transplantation

Volume 10, Issue 12, pages 2624–2631, December 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Khattak, M. W., Sandhu, G. S., Woodward, R., Stoff, J. S. and Goldfarb-Rumyantzev, A. S. (2010), Association Of Marital Status With Access To Renal Transplantation. American Journal of Transplantation, 10: 2624–2631. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2010.03318.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Nephrology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  2. 2

    Transplant Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  3. 3

    Division of Internal Medicine, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA

  4. 4

    Department of Health Management and Policy and Economics, University of New Hampshire, NH

  5. 5

    Division of Nephrology, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA

*Corresponding author: Muhammad Khattak, drkhattak@gmail.com

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 29 NOV 2010
  2. Article first published online: 10 NOV 2010
  3. Received 02 June 2010, revised 23 August 2010 and accepted for publication 10 September 2010

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Keywords:

  • Access;
  • disparities;
  • ESRD;
  • marital status;
  • outcome;
  • renal allograft;
  • renal transplantation

In this report we evaluated the association of marital status with access to renal transplantation. We analyzed data from the USRDS. In patients with ESRD aged ≥27 (mean age of first marriage in the US), we analyzed the association of marital status with two outcomes: (1) likelihood of being placed on the waiting list for renal transplantation or first transplant, (2) likelihood of receiving kidney transplant in patients already listed. We analyzed marital status as a categorical variable: (1) not married (including never been married and widowed); (2) divorced or separated; and (3) currently married. Subgroups based on age, race, sex, donor type and diabetic status were also analyzed. After adjustments for the included independent variables and compared to individuals never married or widowed, those who were divorced/separated (HR 1.55, p < 0.001) and currently married (HR 1.54, p < 0.001) had a higher likelihood of being placed on the transplant waiting list. Once listed, married individuals had higher chances of getting transplanted as well (HR 1.28, p = 0.033). This trend was consistent in most of the subgroups studied. We demonstrated that being married is associated with better access to renal transplantation compared to those who were never married/widowed.

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