ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Transplant.
Sec. Abdominal Transplantation
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frtra.2025.1592516
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Impact of Metabolic-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) on Liver Transplant: Considerations, Outcomes, and Post-Transplant CareView all articles
Disparities in Liver Transplant Waitlist Characteristics and Outcomes Among Hispanic Compared to Non-Hispanic Adults
Provisionally accepted
Monica A Tincopa1*
Jordan L Pace2
Fanny Delebecque1Kelly Torosian1Denya Arellano1
Maria Elena Martinez1Irine Vodkin1Veeral Ajmera1- 1University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
- 2California University of Science and Medicine, San Bernardino, United States
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Background: Social determinants of health (SDOH) and transplant center characteristics have been associated with access to liver transplantation (LT) for Hispanic individuals. The aim of this study was to identify waitlist characteristics and correlates of odds of LT and waitlist removal by Hispanic ethnicity.Methods: This was a single-center cohort study of adults listed for LT between January 2018-December 2020. Demographic, clinical, and SDOH were analyzed using logistic regression.Results: 375 patients were included. 52.5% (N=197) were Hispanic. At time of listing, Hispanic patients had significantly higher BMI, prevalence of diabetes and metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis. Rates of substance use were significantly lower and time of last drink to listing was significantly longer (641 vs 391 days, p=0.0007) in Hispanic adults. Rates of LT and waitlist removal did not significantly differ by Hispanic ethnicity (46.9% vs 46.1% and 35% vs 36.5%, respectively). Hepatocellular carcinoma (OR 3.28) was associated with odds of LT whereas employment status predicted waitlist removal.Conclusions: Distribution on the waitlist, LT and waitlist removal did not differ by Hispanic ethnicity. Hispanic patients had significantly longer time from last drink to listing, suggesting referral bias. Public health interventions to optimize LT referral are needed to increase health equity.
Keywords: health equity, Hispanic, Mortality, cirrhosis, Referral
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tincopa, Pace, Delebecque, Torosian, Arellano, Martinez, Vodkin and Ajmera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Monica A Tincopa, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States
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