Missing Clinic Appointments Does Not Reflect Kidney Transplant Patient's Adherence or Graft Survival: Presented at ATC
By Cathy Yarbrough
SAN DIEGO -- May 6, 2010 -- Missing clinic appointments does not reflect a kidney transplant patient's overall adherence and is not significantly correlated with graft survival, according to recent research presented here at the 2010 American Transplant Congress (ATC).
More studies are needed to determine the role of missed clinic appointments in association with other markers of adherence in predicting graft survival, said Syed Shah, MD, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, on May 2.
This retrospective study of 262 kidney transplant patients, most of whom were African American, defined missed clinic appointments as >=2 consecutive missed appointments in the outpatient follow-up clinic.
The researchers reviewed the clinical data and charts of kidney transplant recipients, deceased as well as living. The patients, who were treated during the 3-year period ending in 2009, were divided into 2 groups -- nonadherent (n = 21) and adherent (n = 241).
Graft survival characterised 23.8% (n = 5) in the nonadherent group and 17% (n = 42) in the adherent group (P = .1).
The researchers noted that adherence to therapy in post-transplant kidney patients is poorly defined. Adequate intake of medication as confirmed by drug levels, pill counting, and pharmacy follow-up for dispense of medications are often used as indicators of adherence.
[Presentation title: Missed Clinic Appointments in Kidney Transplant Recipients Are a Poor Indicator of Overall Adherence and Do Not Correlate With Graft Survival. Abstract 1174]
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/852576140048867C8525771B00808229
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