Renal transplantation in older adults: retrospective cohort study to examine the impact of the new 2019 kidney offering scheme on older adult transplant recipients.

Introduction: In 2019, a new kidney offering scheme was launched in the United Kingdom, aiming to better match estimated patient survival and graft life expectancy. The scheme's impact on older patients undergoing kidney transplantation (KT) is unknown. This study aims to compare the outcomes of older adult KT recipients before and after introduction of the 2019 scheme.

Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study of older adults who underwent KT was undertaken. Group 1 were transplanted between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2019 (2006 allocation scheme) and group 2 between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2021 (2019 offering scheme). An older adult was any person ≥60 years old at the time of KT. Univariable binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: There were 107 older adult deceased donor KT recipients, 62 from group 1 and 45 from group 2. Median age at transplantation was 68 (interquartile range [IQR] 62-71) and 67 (IQR 64-73) years, respectively. Univariable analysis showed that re-intervention (OR 6.486, 95% CI 1.306-32.216, = 0.022) and critical care admission (OR 5.619, 95% CI 1.448-21.812, = 0.013) were significantly more likely in group 2. Group 2 recipients were significantly more likely to have a level 4 human leucocyte antigen (HLA) mismatch (OR 4.667, 95% CI 1.640-13.275, = 0.004) and to have undergone previous KT (OR 4.691, 95% CI 1.385-15.893, = 0.013).

Conclusions: The introduction of the 2019 offering scheme was associated with re-intervention and critical care admission for older KT recipients. We also observed less-favourable HLA matches but more KT in difficult-to-match groups.