Relationship between Healthcare Access and Deceased Donor Quality for Kidney Transplant

Introduction: The Kidney Donor Prolife Index (KDPI) is a percentile combining clinical parameters and demographics to summarize the quality of deceased donor kidneys (DDK) relative to the past year recovered organs. Lower KDPI values are associated with higher donor quality and expected organ function post-transplant. Under the Kidney Allocation System retrieved DDK with best KDPI (0%-20%) are matched to recipients with the greatest Estimated Post-Transplant Survival (0%-20%). However, the prevalence of best KDPI (0%-20%) DDK across transplant regions is not 20% as the percentile would suggest. We hypothesize that this difference stems from favorable health care quality. © 2020 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.