Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant

Note: This tool should not be used to identify patients who may not be good transplant candidates. This tool should only be used with patients who are reasonable candidates for a kidney transplant.

Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant- Estimated Survival in Ontario provides a risk calculator for doctors, social workers, nurses, and/or patient educators to use with patients with kidney disease and their families. The app was created to help patients who may be reasonable candidates for transplantation make more educated treatment decisions.

The app provides individualized, tailored prognosis estimates for Ontario patients with kidney disease so they can be informed of their predicted 3-year risk of death associated with either dialysis vs. living or deceased donor kidney transplantation. Estimates are based on a patient’s age, sex, race and comorbidities.

This app should not be used to identify patients who may not be good transplant candidates and should only be used in the dialysis population.

Instructions for use of the Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant- Estimated Survival in Ontario Risk Calculator

Please review this document prior to using the Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant- Estimated Survival in Ontario website or iOS application.

The Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant- Estimated Survival in Ontario risk calculator is a tool for doctors, social workers, nurses, and/or patient educators to use with chronic dialysis patients and their families to help dialysis patients make more educated treatment decisions. The tool is available as both a website and for download as an iOS application. The tool provides estimates for a patient's 3-year risk of survival and death with different treatment options (dialysis versus living and deceased donor kidney transplantation). The 3-year predicted survival risks are based on patients similar with respect to age, race, and comorbidities as the patient whose information is entered into the website/iOS application. This tool should not be used to identify patients who may not be good transplant candidates. This tool should only be used with patients who are reasonable candidates for a kidney transplant. This tool has only been externally validated in the Ontario dialysis population and cannot be used to estimate risk in the pre-dialysis population. This tool should not be given to patients to use on their own time as one of the purposes of the tool is to promote discussion between the patient and provider about treatment options.

It is possible that chronic dialysis patients could become concerned when they see their predicted 3-year mortality risk. Therefore, this tool should only be used if the care provider has adequate time to discuss the estimates provided and address patient concerns. It is also important to emphasize to the patient that these are estimates only. Further, it should be communicated with the patient that estimates provided will not affect the clinician’s treatment decisions, including their decision to refer for transplant.

Prior to using the website or iOS application with patients please review the “Healthcare Providers” tab on the Dialysis vs. Kidney Transplant- Estimated Survival in Ontario website. If you have any questions regarding the use of the tool please contact Dr. Amit Garg (amit.garg@lhsc.on.ca) prior to using.