The Benefits of a Local Kidney Exchange

Ismail, Mohamed Saleh; Cusick, Matthew F.; Galván, Nhu Thao Nguyen

doi:10.14503/thij-18-6747

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Live kidney donation continues to be promoted as a better option for patients with kidney failure and is associated with better outcomes (more effective matching profiles mean kidneys function better, last longer, with less risk of rejection) ( 12 , 13 ) and is cost effective (patients normally receive a transplant quicker, cost the health service less, and if well-planned, patients can often avoid costly dialysis) ( 14 , 15 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A machine-learning approach to estimating public intentions to become a living kidney donor in England: Evidence from repeated cross-sectional survey data

Boadu

McLaughlin

Al-Haboubi

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundLiving kidney organ donors offer a cost-effective alternative to deceased organ donation. They enable patients with life-threatening conditions to receive grafts that would otherwise not be available, thereby creating space for other patients waiting for organs and contributing to reducing overall waiting times for organs. There is an emerging consensus that an increase in living donation could contribute even more than deceased donation to reducing inequalities in organ donation between different population sub-groups in England. Increasing living donation is thus a priority for National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in the United Kingdom.MethodsUsing the random forest model, a machine learning (ML) approach, this study analyzed eight waves of repeated cross-sectional survey data collected from 2017 to 2021 (n = 14,278) as part of the organ donation attitudinal tracker survey commissioned by NHSBT in England to identify and help predict key factors that inform public intentions to become living donors.ResultsOverall, around 58.8% of the population would consider donating their kidney to a family member (50.5%), a friend (28%) or an unknown person (13.2%). The ML algorithm identified important factors that influence intentions to become a living kidney donor. They include, in reducing order of importance, support for organ donation, awareness of organ donation publicity campaigns, gender, age, occupation, religion, number of children in the household, and ethnic origin. Support for organ donation, awareness of public campaigns, and being younger were all positively associated with predicted propensity for living donation. The variable importance scores show that ethnic origin and religion were less important than the other variables in predicting living donor intention.ConclusionFactors influencing intentions to become a living donor are complex and highly individual in nature. Machine learning methods that allow for complex interactions between characteristics can be helpful in explaining these decisions. This work has identified important factors and subgroups that have higher propensity for living donation. Interventions should target both potential live donors and recipients. Research is needed to explore the extent to which these preferences are malleable to better understand what works and in which contexts to increase live organ donation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%