Most People Seeking a Kidney Transplant Never Reach the Waitlist
Only 19% of referred patients completed evaluation, and barriers were greatest for rural, poorer and Spanish-speaking patients, researchers said.
- On Saturday, June 20, 2026, NYU Langone Health researchers published a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology revealing that most patients referred for kidney transplants never successfully reach the waitlist.
- Analyzing 720,348 patients, researchers found that only 19 percent completed the required evaluation, while 48 percent never even started the process, using data from Epic Cosmos covering over 1,850 hospitals.
- Unmarried individuals, those with severe obesity, or patients living in rural areas or the South face greater challenges in progressing; older, Spanish-speaking, and poorer patients were also especially unlikely to reach the waitlist.
- Smaller centers may be more selective, as researchers noted that "Which transplant center you go to, where you live, and even whether you are married all appear to influence your chances of moving forward to the waitlist for a new kidney."
- Study co-senior author Allan B. Massie, PhD, stated, "These results demonstrate that finding ways to reduce barriers to both evaluation and waitlisting could help expand much-needed access to kidney transplantation.
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44 Articles
Many kidney transplant candidates fail to reach the national waitlist
Nearly half of Americans with kidney failure who are referred for transplantation never begin the process required to be considered for a new organ, a new study shows, while less than a fifth actually complete the assessment and get on the waitlist.
Most people seeking a kidney transplant in the US never reach the waitlist
Nearly half of Americans with kidney failure who are referred for transplantation never begin the process required to be considered for a new organ, a new study shows, while less than a fifth actually complete the assessment and get on the waitlist. While experts have studied what happens once people make it onto the list, little attention has been paid to challenges in making the waitlist in the first place, the study authors said.
The Daily Advance
Most People Seeking a Kidney Transplant Never Reach the Waitlist
Note: This presentation at American Transplant Congress on Saturday, June 20, at 4:30 p.m. ET in Boston, Massachusetts, is titled ""Individual and Center Level Determinants of Progression from Kidney Transplant Referral to Kidney Transplantation in the United States: A National…
Why Most U.S. Patients Never Make It to the Kidney Transplant List
Credit: Unsplash+ For individuals with kidney failure, receiving a kidney transplant can be life-altering. A successful transplant allows someone to live longer, feel healthier, and spend less time undergoing dialysis treatments. However, obtaining a new kidney often involves a lengthy and challenging process. A recent study indicates that many people never even get close to receiving a transplant because they drop out of the process well before…
Scienmag: Latest Science and Health News
BIOENGINEER.ORGMajority of Kidney Transplant Candidates Never Make It to the Waitlist
Nearly half of American patients diagnosed with kidney failure face a significant hurdle that remains largely unnoticed: the daunting path from referral for kidney transplantation to actually being listed as a transplant candidate. A groundbreaking national study spearheaded by researchers from NYU Langone Health reveals that only about 19 percent of these patients complete the rigorous evaluation process required to join the kidney transplant w…
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