Table 4.

Patient and system barriers to preemptive transplantation

	Most of the Time		Half of the Time		Once in a While		Never
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Patients’ reasons for delaying the procedurea
Worry about the consequences of a kidney removal on their donor health	84	18	165	36	160	35	47	10
Not sure how the costs of the transplant procedure will be covered	77	17	143	31	172	38	64	14
Not comfortable talking with family/friends about donating a kidney	73	16	182	40	150	33	53	12
Still feel healthy	69	15	117	25	195	42	78	17
Need time to adjust to the idea that their best treatment option is preemptive transplantation	64	14	184	40	138	30	71	16
Concerned about the financial costs of the procedure for their donor	55	12	115	25	184	40	103	23
Worry they might not be able to pay for their immunosuppressant drugs after the kidney transplant	54	12	114	25	184	40	103	23
Do not want their family/friends to know about the severity of their condition	13	3	48	11	175	38	219	48
CKD patients’ access to information about preemptive transplantationa
If available, I would give my patients a CD or a videotape describing pros and cons of preemptive transplantation	324	74	92	21	13	3	7	2
When presenting different alternatives to my patients, it is easier to recommend preemptive transplantation than dialysis therapy	158	36	143	33	115	26	22	5
It is difficult to get my patients to attend educational programs/classes to learn about their treatment options	94	22	192	44	123	28	27	6
Lack of time prevents me from discussing in detail preemptive transplantation with my patients	28	6	90	20	148	34	174	40
Referrals issuesa
CKD patients are referred in such an advanced state that there is not enough time to plan for preemptive transplantation	85	20	213	49	138	32	5	1
There is too much delay between the time I refer a patient for preemptive transplantation and the time this patient is seen at the transplant center	81	18	145	33	145	33	65	15
When I recommend preemptive transplantation to my patients they immediately contact a transplant center to pursue this option	73	17	168	39	154	35	39	9

^aTotal n per item not equal to 460 because of missing data.