For people living with kidney failure, deciding between a kidney transplant or lifelong dialysis is one of the most important and most difficult choices they will face. While many patients benefit from transplant, others may do better with dialysis. Unfortunately, it is not always clear which option is best for each individual.
Doctors currently determine a patient’s fitness for transplant surgery by asking patients how much physical activity they can do and by checking how well they manage everyday tasks. But this information is often hard for people to recall, may not be accurate, and can be influenced by what people think they should say to the doctor. A new approach using wearables could provide a more objective way to measure physical activity and heart health, helping patients and clinicians make more confident decisions.
About REACT-KID
The Recorded Exercise, Activity, and Cardiovascular Tracking for Kidney transplant Impact and Decision-making (REACT-KID) study is exploring how this wearable technology might support kidney transplant assessments and outcomes.
We are asking 200 patients attending the kidney transplant assessment clinic to wear a wrist-worn wearable for two 7-day periods:
First period: after their initial clinic appointment
Second period: four months after their kidney transplant
The wearable will be used to assess minute-by-minute heart rate information and physical activity. Alongside this, participants will complete questionnaires on health-related quality of life and short cognitive assessments.
We will compare these results with clinical outcomes, such as:
How quickly the transplanted kidney starts working
How long patients remain in hospital after surgery
How well the new kidney functions
The number of hospital readmissions in the four months after transplant
Our goal is to understand whether wearable data could add to the existing transplant assessment to better assess a patient’s fitness and likely recovery. Ultimately, this could improve how transplant suitability is assessed and support patients in making more confident, evidence-based decisions about their treatment.
Publications
REACT -Kid study publications on the MRC Epidemiology Unit publications database.
