Milda R Saunders1,2, Haena Lee1,3, G Caleb Alexander4, Hyo Jung Tak5, J Richard Thistlethwaite6, Lainie Friedman Ross2,6,7. 1. Department of Medicine, Section of Hospital Medicine, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. 2. MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. 3. Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. 4. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. 5. Department of Health Management and Policy, University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, Fort Worth, TX, USA. 6. Section of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. 7. Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the United States, African Americans and whites differ in access to the deceased donor renal transplant waitlist. The extent to which racial disparities in waitlisting differ between United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) regions is understudied. METHODS: The US Renal Data System (USRDS) was linked with US census data to examine time from dialysis initiation to waitlisting for whites (n = 188,410) and African Americans (n = 144,335) using Cox proportional hazards across 11 UNOS regions, adjusting for potentially confounding individual, neighborhood, and state characteristics. RESULTS: Likelihood of waitlisting varies significantly by UNOS region, overall and by race. Additionally, African Americans face significantly lower likelihood of waitlisting compared to whites in all but two regions (1 and 6). Overall, 39% of African Americans with ESRD reside in Regions 3 and 4--regions with a large racial disparity and where African Americans comprise a large proportion of the ESRD population. In these regions, the African American-white disparity is an important contributor to their overall regional disparity. CONCLUSIONS: Race remains an important factor in time to transplant waitlist in the United States. Race contributes to overall regional disparities; however, the importance of race varies by UNOS region.
BACKGROUND: In the United States, African Americans and whites differ in access to the deceased donor renal transplant waitlist. The extent to which racial disparities in waitlisting differ between United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) regions is understudied. METHODS: The US Renal Data System (USRDS) was linked with US census data to examine time from dialysis initiation to waitlisting for whites (n = 188,410) and African Americans (n = 144,335) using Cox proportional hazards across 11 UNOS regions, adjusting for potentially confounding individual, neighborhood, and state characteristics. RESULTS: Likelihood of waitlisting varies significantly by UNOS region, overall and by race. Additionally, African Americans face significantly lower likelihood of waitlisting compared to whites in all but two regions (1 and 6). Overall, 39% of African Americans with ESRD reside in Regions 3 and 4--regions with a large racial disparity and where African Americans comprise a large proportion of the ESRD population. In these regions, the African American-white disparity is an important contributor to their overall regional disparity. CONCLUSIONS: Race remains an important factor in time to transplant waitlist in the United States. Race contributes to overall regional disparities; however, the importance of race varies by UNOS region.
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