Health professional and transplant recipient perspectives of kidney transplantation in regional, rural, and remote Australia – a survey study
Watters, Tara K., Scholes-Robertson, Nicole J., Glass, Beverley D., and Mallett, Andrew J. (2025) Health professional and transplant recipient perspectives of kidney transplantation in regional, rural, and remote Australia – a survey study. Journal of Nephrology, 38 (5). pp. 1403-1412.
|
PDF (Published Version)
- Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Background: Despite higher rates of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure in rural and remote populations, these patients are less likely to receive a kidney transplant. Additional barriers to kidney transplantation are associated with the need to travel to metropolitan areas where medical testing and transplantation facilities are located. We determined the opinions, attitudes, and experiences of both health professionals and recent kidney transplant recipients regarding kidney transplantation processes in Australia for patients residing in regional, rural, and remote areas. Methods: A cross-sectional survey containing closed and open-ended questions was administered, with kidney transplant recipients from northern Queensland and Australian kidney transplant health professionals surveyed. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while a descriptive thematic method was used to analyse qualitative data. Results: Australian transplant health professionals (82) and recent kidney transplant recipients (77) participated. Almost all (97%) health professional participants agreed that receiving psychosocial support from peers would be beneficial for potential transplant recipients. Kidney transplant recipients rated information prior to transplant, potential medication side effects, high financial costs incurred related to treatment, and access to ongoing medication supply as the most important aspects in relation to their own experience. Prevalent themes around improving transplant experiences included enabling timely and flexible access to transplant assessment, reducing financial hardship, and fostering comprehensive psychosocial support. Conclusions: Multiple aspects of current kidney transplant processes in Australia, and particularly northern Australia, could be optimised to improve patient experiences and clinical outcomes for regional, rural, and remote kidney transplant recipients.
| Item ID: | 88012 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1724-6059 |
| Keywords: | Chronic kidney disease, Indigenous health, Kidney transplant, Rural and remote health |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Mar 2026 06:49 |
| FoR Codes: | 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320214 Nephrology and urology @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200105 Treatment of human diseases and conditions @ 100% |
| More Statistics |
Actions (Repository Staff Only)
 |
Item Control Page |