Role of patient factors and practice patterns in determining access to liver waitlist

Abstract

Geographic variability in access to care is a persistent challenge in transplantation. Little is known about how patients with end-stage liver disease are chosen for referral, evaluation and listing. Utilizing death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2002 to 2009, estimated liver demand (ELD) was measured by aggregating annual deaths from liver disease and liver transplants performed in each donor service area (DSA). In DSAs with higher ELD, more patients per capita were listed for transplantation (p-