While the majority of kidney donors and recipients were in favor of exchanging information, transplant professionals' opinions varied greatly and tended to be more conservative. (For example, for incompatible kidney exchanges, only 61% of health professionals were in favor of sharing donors' information and only 47% were in favor of sharing recipients' information.) These findings indicate that not only do transplant professionals lack a consensus related to information sharing, but their preferences are also markedly different from those of their patients.

The authors noted that the rights of any donor or recipient opposed to information sharing must be respected, but clinicians should not assume to know how much patients value their confidentiality. In addition, transplant professionals should better facilitate the sharing of information within legal limitations. "Our results do not advocate for complete information sharing, but rather consideration for greater information sharing," said Dr. Garg.

In an accompanying podcast, William Harmon, MD of the Children's Hospital Boston (Boston, MA) explains, "This is a very important study, because it's the first of its kind, in which we're actually asking the attitudes of both the donors and the recipients. This study should lead to additional studies to clarify this." The podcast will be available online at www.asn-online and through iTunes on Thursday, March 18.

SOURCE American Society of Nephrology