Skip to content

System Interventions to Achieve Early and Equitable Transplants (STEPS) Study

System Interventions to Achieve Early and Equitable Transplants (STEPS) Study

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05014256
Enrollment
1168
Registered
2021-08-20
Start date
2022-04-02
Completion date
2025-12-31
Last updated
2026-01-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic Kidney Diseases

Keywords

Kidney transplant, Living donor kidney transplant

Brief summary

This project will study how kidney care for everyone despite race can reduce racial differences in care and improve access to kidney transplants, and specifically living donor kidney transplants (LDKT), for individuals with chronic kidney disease. A study focused on equality and patient needs (called 'STEPS') will 1) create a program to identify people who may need a kidney transplant ('STEPS Surveillance') and find people in health systems who may be able to receive kidney transplants early in their care and (2) study how well the 'STEPS Outreach' program works (comprised of transplant social workers and transplant coordinators who focus on equality and patient needs) compared to usual care to improve access to kidney transplants among Black and non-Black individuals as well as to improve access to transplants for everyone.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALSTEPS Health System Outreach intervention

STEPS Transplant Social Worker Education and Outreach, STEPS Transplant Coordinator Outreach

Sponsors

Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Lead SponsorOTHER
Northwell Health
CollaboratorOTHER
Geisinger Clinic
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Mississippi Medical Center
CollaboratorOTHER
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
CollaboratorNIH
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Ability to provide oral informed consent * Male or female, aged 18 to \<=75 years * Presence of CKD (2 eGFRs \<60, 90 days apart) and at least 1 of the following: most recent eGFR less than 30 or KFRE greater than 10% * English speaking with adequate ability to hear and understand questions over the phone * Willing to comply with all study procedures and be available for the duration of the study

Exclusion criteria

* Male or female, aged \<18 or \> 75 years * Non-English speaking * Lack of ability to hear and comprehend verbal communication. * Patients on dialysis * Deceased * Hospice/palliative care * Prior kidney transplant * Currently waitlisted at any transplant center * Self-reported terminal illness or receipt of hospice services

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Health system reported completion of transplant evaluation18 monthsNumber of patients that said "yes" to the completion of transplant evaluation as reported in health system EHR and Administrative reports

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Live donor inquires to transplant center6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsthe number of participants that made an inquiry to the transplant center related to live donors as reported in EHR or from questionnaire
Live kidney donor transplants6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsThe number of participants that completed their live kidney donor transplant as reported by the EHR or questionnaire
Placement on deceased kidney donor waitlist6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsThe number of patients that have been placed on the deceased kidney donor waitlist as reported in the EHR or UNOS
Deceased kidney donor transplants6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsThe number of patients that received a deceased kidney donor transplant as reported in EHR or USRDS
Health system reported initiation of transplant evaluation18 monthsNumber of patients that said "yes" to the initiation of transplant evaluation as reported in health system EHR and Administrative reports
Patient reported physician discussionsbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsnumber of times patient talked to physician regarding kidney transplant measured by patient report in questionnaire
Patient reported family discussionsbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsnumber of times patient talked to family regarding kidney transplant measured by patient reported in questionnaire
Patient reported initiation of transplant evaluationbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsNumber of patients that said "yes" to the initiation of transplant evaluation measured by patient report in questionnaire
Patient reported completion of transplant evaluationbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsNumber of patients that said "yes" to the completion of transplant evaluation measured by patient report in questionnaire
Patient reported identification of a living donorbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsNumber of patients that said "yes" to the identification of a living donor measured by patient report in questionnaire
Patient reported kidney transplant knowledgebaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsNumber of questions patients correctly answer measured by patient report in questionnaire
Patient reported empowermentbaseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 monthsCalculation of scaled questions from the adapted DES-SF form using a range of 1-5 for each question, with 5 being the best outcome, measured by patient report in questionnaire.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOREbony Boulware, M.D.

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 5, 2026