IN-FAKT: INvestigating FAiling Kidney Transplants

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The IN-FAKT study: INvestigating the experiences and management of individuals with FAiling Kidney Transplants

• IRAS ID

  319574

• Contact name

  Pippa Bailey

• Contact email

  pippa.bailey@bristol.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  North Bristol NHS Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 3 days

• Research summary

  Kidney transplantation is the best treatment for most people with kidney failure. However, kidney transplants rarely work for the whole of a patient’s life. A kidney transplant is said to have failed when it no longer works well enough to keep someone healthy, and another treatment, like dialysis, is required.

  Many decisions need to be made when a kidney transplant fails, including whether the transplant should be removed, and which medication should be stopped. There is limited poor-quality evidence on which to base these decisions, and people are managed differently at different hospitals.

  We aim to understand:
  - patient and family experiences of kidney transplant failure
  - patient and family priorities when a transplant fails
  - patient, family and healthcare professional beliefs about the best treatment for transplant failure
  - how and why decisions regarding failing transplants are made between patients, their families and clinicians
  - views on a possible clinical trial to compare different treatments for transplant failure

  Through this understanding we hope to learn:
  - what outcomes matter most to patients and their families when a transplant fails
  - whether healthcare professionals are uncertain how to manage someone with a failing transplant
  - what sort of management interventions and clinical trial designs patients and healthcare professionals would support

  We will interview 25-30 people who have experienced kidney transplant failure, 25-30 their family, and 10-15 healthcare professionals. We will interview people of different ages, sexes, and ethnicities, with different transplants, different experiences of treatments before and after transplantation, from different UK hospitals. We will investigate whether people’s experiences and views are similar or different, and whether who they are and how they are treated impacts on their experiences.

  Findings will be used to inform the design and delivery of a trial to determine the best management for failing transplants.

• REC name

  West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/WM/0020

• Date of REC Opinion

  16 Feb 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion