Challenges in Long-Term Follow-Up Care of Patients After Kidney Transplantation in Specialized Transplant Centers

Abstract

Medical care after kidney transplantation requires a close follow-up in specialized transplant centers to minimize complications. Especially in bigger territorial states, the distance the patients have to cover is an underestimated problem for the patients. We performed a survey of 498 patients who underwent kidney transplantation at the transplant center of Hannover Medical School in Lower Saxony in order to find out the burden imposed by having to travel to one of the outpatient clinics affiliated with it for follow-ups. We found that 72% of the patients had to travel more than 100 km to reach the outpatient clinic and the costs for the trip were € 36.30 (standard deviation € 34.15). A distance between home and transplant center of more than 100 km reduced the motivation to attend the outpatient clinic significantly (p=0.023), whereas reimbursement of travel costs improved the motivation to attend the outpatient clinic only partially (p=0.012). We conclude that novel modern media-based care models like televisits could reduce patient burdens and optimize post-transplant care.