Patients with a low income have reduced renal allograft survival

The impact of socioeconomic factors on long-term outcome after renal transplantation is unknown. We examined the effects of family income among 202 patients transplanted between 1976 and 1982 who had an allograft that functioned for at least 1 year. Compared with patients with an adequate income, recipients of medical assistance at the time of transplantation were more likely to return to dialysis after 1 year (16/45 [36%] v 26/157 [17%], P less than 0.01), or after 5 years of graft function (10/38 [26%] v 12/116 [10%], P less than 0.01). Patients who complied with fewer than 85% of visits during the first 2 years were also more likely to return to dialysis after 1 year (17/49 [35%] v 25/153 [16%], P less than 0.01), or after 5 years (8/31 [26%] v 14/123 [11%], P less than 0.05) than were more compliant patients. However, noncompliance was not different in patients with and without a low income (37/157 [24%] v 12/45 [27%], P greater than 0.05). The relative risk for returning to dialysis after 5 years was 2.4 (P less than 0.05) for low income and 3.0 (P less than 0.05) for less than 85% compliance using a Cox proportional hazards model. These effects were independent of prior transplantation, mismatches, pre-formed antibodies, delayed graft function, age, sex, diabetes, alcohol or drug abuse, education, race, distance from the transplant center, and living in an urban environment (relative risk = 2.5, P less than 0.05). Neither income nor compliance could be linked to death.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)