ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Various factors influence kidney transplant (KT) outcome. The impact of age difference between donor and recipient on long- and short-term graft and patient survival in living donor KT remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aim to determine whether age difference, sex matching, and body mass index (BMI) matching between donor and recipient affect the 12-month patient and graft survival in KT. METHOD: We studied a retrospective cohort of 804 patients 18 years or older with primary KT from January 2010 to December 2014. Patient renal function and patient survival were followed up for 12 months post KT. Repeated analysis of variance measurement determined if there was a significant difference in the mean creatinine levels when the sample was grouped according to the matching groups for sex, age difference, and BMI classification. Odds ratios were computed to ascertain graft loss and graft rejection. Results were considered statistically significant if P < .05. RESULTS: Male donor-female recipient had the lowest creatinine levels over time compared with male donor-male recipient (P < .001) and female donor-male recipient (P < .001). Older donor-younger recipient with age difference of ≥ 15 years had the highest overall creatinine (P < .001). For BMI matching, a normal donor and an underweight recipient combination resulted in the lowest mean creatinine levels over the course of 12 months (P < .001). In terms of graft rejection, odds ratio was highest for a female donor and a male recipient (P < .00a) compared with a male donor and a female recipient. For graft loss, older donors (≥ 15 years) had the highest risk (P < .001) vs those older by 11 to 15 years. CONCLUSION: There was significant difference in the 12-month graft function of patients when grouped according to their matching for age difference, sex, and BMI. The risk for graft rejection increases when the combination for donor-recipient is female donor-male recipient. For graft loss, this is most significant for donors who are older by ≥ 15 years than their recipients.
