Hospitalization Among Individuals Waitlisted for Kidney Transplant.

Background: For patients waitlisted for a deceased-donor kidney, hospitalization is associated with a lower likelihood of transplantation and worse posttransplant outcomes. However, individual-, neighborhood-, and regional-level risk factors for hospitalization throughout the waitlist period and specific causes of hospitalization in this population are unknown. Methods: We used United States Renal Data System Medicare-linked data on patients waitlisted between 2005 and 2013 with continuous enrollment in Medicare Parts A & B (n=53 810) to examine the association between annual hospitalization rate and a variety of demographic, clinical, and social factors. We used multi-level multivariable ordinal logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR). Results: Factors associated with significantly increased hospitalization rates among waitlisted individuals included older age, female sex, more years on dialysis prior to waitlisting, tobacco use, PRA>0, public insurance or no insurance at ESRD diagnosis, more regional acute care hospital beds, and urban residence (all p

http://ift.tt/2rYqcRa