Geographic Disparity in the United States Heart Allocation System

Author(s):  
Fatemeh Karami ◽  
Mehdi Nayebpour ◽  
Monica Gentili ◽  
Naoru Koizumi ◽  
Andrew Rivard

Organ allocation for transplantation across the United States is administered by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). UNOS recently approved a major policy change of the system used to allocate hearts for adult transplant candidates. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the new policy on geographic disparity measured by four performance indicators (waiting time before a transplant, transplant rate, pre-transplant mortality rate, and average distance traveled by donated hearts). The current policy and the new policy were evaluated using the thoracic simulation allocation model. The results show that the new policy improves the median waiting time, transplant rate, and pre-transplant mortality rate. The overall predicted improvement in geographic equity is modest except in terms of waiting time. The findings highlight the need for a targeted approach for donor heart allocation to achieve equal access to heart transplantation in the US.

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (12) ◽  
pp. 1354-1362
Author(s):  
Rahman Barry ◽  
Milad Modarresi ◽  
Rodrigo Aguilar ◽  
Jacqueline Sanabria ◽  
Thao Wolbert ◽  
...  

Traumatic injuries account for 10% of all mortalities in the United States. Globally, it is estimated that by the year 2030, 2.2 billion people will be overweight (BMI ≥ 25) and 1.1 billion people will be obese (BMI ≥ 30). Obesity is a known risk factor for suboptimal outcomes in trauma; however, the extent of this impact after blunt trauma remains to be determined. The incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates from blunt trauma by age, gender, cause, BMI, year, and geography were abstracted using datasets from 1) the Global Burden of Disease group 2) the United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample databank 3) two regional Level II trauma centers. Statistical analyses, correlations, and comparisons were made on a global, national, and state level using these databases to determine the impact of BMI on blunt trauma. The incidence of blunt trauma secondary to falls increased at global, national, and state levels during our study period from 1990 to 2015, with a corresponding increase in BMI at all levels ( P < 0.05). Mortality due to fall injuries was higher in obese patients at all levels ( P < 0.05). Analysis from Nationwide Inpatient Sample database demonstrated higher mortality rates for obese patients nationally, both after motor vehicle collisions and mechanical falls ( P < 0.05). In obese and nonobese patients, regional data demonstrated a higher blunt trauma mortality rate of 2.4% versus 1.2%, respectively ( P < 0.05) and a longer hospital length of stay of 4.13 versus 3.26 days, respectively ( P = 0.018). The obesity rate and incidence of blunt trauma secondary to falls are increasing, with a higher mortality rate and longer length of stay in obese blunt trauma patients.


Urban Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100946
Author(s):  
Samain Sabrin ◽  
Maryam Karimi ◽  
Rouzbeh Nazari ◽  
Md Golam Rabbani Fahad ◽  
Robert W. Peters ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
yanxiang li ◽  
zhanliang yuan ◽  
qiaoqiao wang

Abstract Since the emergence of the new corona virus Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19), it has spread rapidly around the world and has had a serious impact on world economic and social development. In this article, we reviewed the pathogenesis, development process, and the impact and loss of COVID-19 on global human health. Combined with the GIS method, the global distribution of COVID-19 was visualized at multiple scales, and the core areas of the COVID-19 epidemic at different scales were determined. And use the global real-time updated infection data to judge the overall development trend of COVID-19. After visualizing and analyzing the global epidemic data, it was found that the number of patients with COVID-19 at the global scale is still growing at a relatively rapid rate, but the global average mortality rate is drop rapidly. The country with the highest mortality rate at the national scale is 16.24% in Belgium, followed by France and Italy, with mortality rates of 15.31% and 14.4%, respectively. Changes in the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States at the regional scale have a major impact on the global epidemic. Although the mortality rate in the United States is gradually declining, the number of infections and deaths is still increasing at a relatively rapid rate. At the regional scale, the New York epidemic is a hot spot in the United States and should be given high priority.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Rodu ◽  
Philip Cole

PURPOSE: From 1950 to 1990, the overall cancer mortality rate increased steadily in the United States, a trend which ran counter to declining mortality from other major diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of lung cancer on all-cancer mortality over the past 50 years. METHODS: Data from the National Centers for Health Statistics were used to develop mortality rates for all forms of cancer combined, lung cancer, and other-cancer (all-cancer minus lung cancer) from 1950 to 1998. RESULTS: When lung cancer is excluded, mortality from all other forms of cancer combined declined continuously from 1950 to 1998, dropping 25% during this period. The decline in other-cancer mortality was approximately 0.4% annually from 1950 to 1990 but accelerated to 0.9% per year from 1990 to 1996 and to 2.2% per year from 1996 to 1998. CONCLUSION: The long-term decline is likely due primarily to improvements in medical care, including screening, diagnosis, and treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (12) ◽  
pp. 1951-1954
Author(s):  
Tina Q Tan ◽  
Ravina Kullar ◽  
Talia H Swartz ◽  
Trini A Mathew ◽  
Damani A Piggott ◽  
...  

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States has revealed major disparities in the access to testing and messaging about the pandemic based on the geographic location of individuals, particularly in communities of color, rural areas, and areas of low income. This geographic disparity, in addition to deeply rooted structural inequities, have posed additional challenges to adequately diagnose and provide care for individuals of all ages living in these settings. We describe the impact that COVID-19 has had on geographically disparate populations in the United States and share our recommendations on what might be done to ameliorate the current situation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 97 (10) ◽  
pp. 1049-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Davis ◽  
Sanjay Mehrotra ◽  
Lisa M. McElroy ◽  
John J. Friedewald ◽  
Anton I. Skaro ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol os-22 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-90
Author(s):  
Jeffry A. Will ◽  
Irma Hall ◽  
Tim Cheney ◽  
Maura Driscoll

The past decade has seen tremendous improvements in the health status of children in the United States. In 1992, the infant mortality rate in the United States was at 8.5 per 1,000 live births. By 2002 that figure had declined to 6.9. However, the infant mortality rate for Jacksonville/Duval County in Northeast Florida has consistently remained higher than both the national and state rates, particularly for minority populations. The Magnolia Project was developed by a consortium of local health care providers and concerned community agencies to address racial disparities in birth outcomes. The Magnolia Project provides well-woman clinic and case management services to women in the childbearing years residing in the urban core, where infant mortality is highest. In this paper, we examine the Magnolia Project to assess the impact that this initiative has made on the target community in providing health services and prevention strategies to reduce poor birth outcomes. Included in such services are strategies aimed at reducing factors associated with infant mortality. These strategies have resulted in improved birth outcomes for women associated with the Magnolia Project, including a low incidence of infant mortality and low birth weight babies for participants.


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