Discrepant Outcomes between National Kidney Transplant Data Registries in the United States

What is it about?

Changes in access to external data for transplant registries are compounded by different data management processes at UNOS, SRTR, and USRDS. Our analysis suggests there are large differences between datasets in reported outcomes that vary across different subsets of patients. These differences, along with recent disclosure of previously missing outcomes data, raise important questions about the completeness of the outcome measures. Differences in deaths appear to be growing in recent years, reflecting the adverse impact of restricted access to external data sources. These registries are invaluable sources for the transplant community but discrepancies and incomplete reporting risk undermining their value, future analyses that use these datasets, and resulting interpretation particularly when used for developing national transplant policy or regulatory measures.

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