Human Services News

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine explored why blacks are less likely than other races to become living kidney donors, and the reasons are obesity and failure to complete the donor evaluation.

"Obesity is a growing problem in the African-American community, particularly among women, and this reflects what we found in the study," said Amber Reeves-Daniel, D.O., an instructor in internal medicine-nephrology.

"The other issue is the social reasons for non-donation, including failure to complete the donor evaluation process.

Reeves-Daniel reported the results today at the 2007 American Transplant Congress in San Francisco.

The disqualified donors were all identified by documented information -- race, gender and cause of donor exclusion.

Twelve percent of blacks were excluded because they didn't complete the evaluation process, compared to 1.8 percent of whites.

For whites, the biggest reason for exclusion was kidney stones, at 7.3 percent, compared to 1.5 percent in blacks.

"Further study of these differences may improve our understanding of the causes of low rates of living kidney donation among African-Americans, particularly regarding the social reasons," said Reeves-Daniel.

"Is it lack of trust in the medical community, financial inability to get to doctor's appointments for tests, concerns with work and child care, or perhaps some other issue?"

"I did find this kind of surprising because more women successfully donate than men, at a rate of 58 percent versus 42 percent," said Reeves-Daniel.

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