Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Differences in Donor Heart Acceptance by Race and Gender of Patients on the Transplant Waiting List
- Retrospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
The cumulative incidence of heart offer acceptance by a transplant center team was consistently lower for Black candidates than for White candidates of the same gender and higher for women than for men. These disparities persisted after adjusting for candidate-, donor-, and offer-level variables, possibly suggesting racial and gender bias in the decision-making process.
Study context
- Population
- US adults listed for heart transplant, UNOS datasets, October 18, 2018 – March 31, 2023159,177 offers · 13,760 donors
- Participants
- 14,890 adults
- Exposure
- Black vs White and women vs men heart transplant candidates
- Outcome
- Heart offer acceptance by the transplant center team
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Heart offer acceptance
Odds ratio (95% CI)
Black vs Whitefirst offer; lower through the 16th offer
0.76(0.69–0.84)
Women vs Menfirst offer; higher through the sixth offer, lower for the 10th through 31st offers
1.53(1.39–1.68)
- Cumulative incidence of offer acceptance highest for White women, then Black women, White men, Black men
- P < 0.001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Differences in Donor Heart Acceptance by Race and Gender of Patients on the Transplant Waiting List. JAMA. Published 23 April 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.0065
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it