Nurse managers, white providers more likely to be unaware of national racial disparity in waitlisting
THURSDAY, April 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Health care provider awareness of racial disparities in kidney transplant waitlisting is low, especially among nurse managers and white providers, according to a study published online April 12 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Joyce J. Kim, from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a 2016 survey of providers from low-waitlisting dialysis facilities to examine health care providers’ awareness of racial disparities in kidney transplant waitlisting.
The researchers found that 19 percent of the 655 providers surveyed were aware of the national racial disparity in waitlisting: 50 percent of 113 medical directors, 11 percent of 327 nurse managers, and 16 percent of 215 other providers. The likelihood of being unaware of the national racial disparity was increased for nurse managers versus medical directors (odds ratio, 7.33) and for white versus black providers (odds ratio, 2.64) in analyses adjusted for provider and facility characteristics. Facilities in the South and those with a low percentage of blacks were also more likely to be unaware (odds ratios, 3.05 and 1.86, respectively). A >5 percent racial difference in waitlisting was seen in a quarter of facilities; only 5 percent were aware of the disparity.
“Provider awareness of racial disparities in kidney transplant waitlisting was low, particularly among staff who may have more routine contact with patients,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to Fresenius Dialysis.
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