Abstract
New regulations require living kidney donor (LKD) follow-up for 2years, but donor retention remains poor. Electronic communication (eg, text messaging and e-mail) might improve donor retention. To explore the possible impact of electronic communication, we recruited LKDs to participate in an exploratory study of communication via telephone, e-mail, or text messaging postdonation; communication through this study was purely optional and did not replace standard follow-up. Of 69 LKDs recruited, 3% requested telephone call, 52% e-mail, and 45% text messaging. Telephone response rate was 0%; these LKDs were subsequently excluded from analysis. Overall response rates with e-mail or text messaging at 1week, 1month, 6months, 1year, and 2years were 94%, 87%, 81%, 72%, and 72%. Lower response rates were seen in African Americans, even after adjusting for age, sex, and contact method (incidence rate ratio (IRR) nonresponse 2.07 5.8116.36 , P=.001). Text messaging had higher response rates than e-mail (IRR nonresponse 0.11 0.280.71 , P=.007). Rates of nonresponse were similar by sex (IRR 0.68, P=.4) and age (IRR 1.00, P>.9). In summary, LKDs strongly preferred electronic messaging over telephone and were highly responsive 2years postdonation, even in this nonrequired, nonincentivized exploratory research study. These electronic communication tools can be automated and may improve regulatory compliance and postdonation care.
Accepted Version (
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Published Version
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