Objectives: We have limited data on gender disparities between living kidney transplant donors and recipients across ethnic groups.
Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of all living-donor kidney transplants performed at a single center in an ethnically diverse region of England. Data were extracted from the United Kingdom National Transplant Database and University Hospitals Birmingham electronic medical records.
Results: We analyzed 713 living-donor kidney transplant procedures that were performed from 1987 to 2014. Gender disparities were observed, with women more likely to be living donors (54.7%) and less likely to be recipients (39.4%). Most male recipients received kidneys from female donors versus male donors (70.2% vs 29.8%), whereas the proportion of men receiving kidneys from women (50.9%) and from men (49.1%) were similar (P < .001). Black, Asian, and donors from other minority groups comprised 18.7% of the donor cohort. South Asian partner-to-partner transplants (n = 22) were predominantly men receiving transplants from women (90.9%) versus women receiving transplants from men (9.1%; P = .003). Male patients more commonly donated their kidney to children than to women (10.2% vs 6.4%; P = .046). South Asian donations to children were similar between males and females; however, boys exclusively received kidneys from male donors (8/8) versus from female donors (8/12).
Conclusions: Gender disparity exists in living-donor kidney transplant, with disparities more pronounced in some ethnic groups and among particular relationships. This finding requires targeted counseling and research to understand whether the cause is medical or sociocultural obstacles.