Your Path to Transplant: A Randomized Control Trial of A Tailored Computer Education Intervention for Living Donor Kidney Transplant

Because of the deceased donor organ shortage, more kidney patients are considering whether to receive kidneys from family and friends, a process called living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Although Blacks are 3.4 times more likely to develop end stage renal disease, they are less likely to receive LDKTs. To address this disparity, this randomized controlled trial will assess whether Black and White transplant patients' knowledge and receipt of LDKTs can be increased when they receive access to the Your Path to Transplant computerized Expert System (YPT). This trial will also examine how other known patient, family, and healthcare system barriers to LDKT impact YPT's effectiveness. Nine hundred (900) Black,White and Hispanic ESRD patients presenting for transplant medical evaluation at University of California-Los Angeles Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program (UCLA-KPTP) in Los Angeles, California will be stratified by race and randomly assigned to one of two education conditions (YPT vs. Usual Care Education). As they undergo transplant evaluation, patients in the YPT condition will receive individually-tailored feedback reports, coaching, and socioeconomic resource guidance associated with reducing barriers to access to LDKT. Control patients will receive usual care transplant education provided by UCLA-KPTP. Changes in knowledge, readiness to pursue LDKT, pros/cons to LDKT, and self-efficacy will be assessed at four time points: prior to presenting at the transplant center (baseline), during transplant evaluation (approximately 2 months post-baseline), and 4- and 8-months post-baseline. Completion of transplant evaluation and receipt of LDKTs will be assessed 18-months post-baseline. At the conclusion of the study, we will have developed an innovative and cost-effective YPT Computerized Expert System that could be utilized to tailor LDKT discussion and education in different medical settings based on the needs of individual patients of different races.