Outcomes for Somali immigrant kidney transplant recipients in a large-volume transplant center

• Main Authors: Kent J. Peterson, Oscar K. Serrano, Marjorie Odegard, Steven J. Mongin, Danielle Berglund, David M. Vock, Srinath Chinnakotla, Ty B. Dunn, Erik B. Finger, Raja Kandaswamy, Timothy L. Pruett, Arthur J. Matas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-12-01
• Series: Transplantation Reports
• Subjects: Kidney transplantation; Racial disparities; Cultural discordance; Linguistic discordance; Outcomes; Somali
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451959620300287

Introduction: Kidney transplantation (KT) demands that patients navigate a complex healthcare system and adhere to lifelong therapy and surveillance. Cultural and linguistic discordance between patients and providers has been identified as a barrier to successful KT. We studied KT outcomes and disparities among a native Somali population living in Minnesota. Methods: Between 1995 and 2015, 2,385 patients underwent KT at our institution; 22 were self-designated Somali nationals. Patient and graft survival and time to first rejection were analyzed. Utilization of interpreter services was evaluated. Results: Patient survival for the Somali cohort at 1 year was 100% and 95.5% at 5 years; compared to 97.2% at 1 year and 89.1% at 5 years for the Caucasian cohort (p = 0.40). Graft survival for the Somali cohort at 1 year was 100% and 95.5% at 5 years; for the Caucasian cohort 94.8% and 81.6% (p = 0.35). Rejection-free survival in the Somali cohort was 100% at 1 and 5 years, for the Caucasian cohort 86.2% and 82.1 (p = 0.41). Among 22 adult Somali KT recipients, 15 (68%) patients frequently utilized interpreter services in their KT-related clinical encounters. Conclusion: Immigrant Somali KT recipients, appear to have comparable KT outcomes compared to a contemporaneous Caucasian cohort.