When Assessing Transplants, Long-Term Outcomes Are More Meaningful

Public reporting on outcomes for kidney, liver and lung transplants would be more meaningful if assessments were conducted longer after surgery than current assessments that occur after one year, according to an AHRQ-funded study. Post-transplant outcomes on graft survival (the probability of successful functioning after transplant) are publicly reported for patient and regulatory use. One-year assessments are commonly criticized for not identifying clinically meaningful differences between transplant programs and not providing information about longer-term outcomes. Researchers’ analysis of people who were listed as transplant candidates between 2011 and 2015, and who subsequently underwent transplants before the end of 2018, showed three- and five-year assessments provided more meaningful outcomes information than one-year follow-ups. Access the abstract of the study published in the American Journal of Transplantation.