Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of Lung Transplant and In-Hospital Mortality among Pediatric and Adolescent Patients in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze racial/ethnic disparity in inpatient mortality among pediatric and adolescent lung transplant recipients (≤19 years old) in the United States (US). The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) dataset from 2003-2017 was used for this analysis. Survey logistic regression model was utilized to find the association between lung transplant and inpatient mortality among various racial/ethnic groups. The overall inpatient mortality rate was 3.92 per 100 lung transplant hospitalizations. Overall, when adjusted for covariates, those who received lung transplants were 8.49 times as likely to experience inpatient mortality (95% CI: 5.66-12.73) compared to those who did not receive it. The likelihood of inpatient mortality was highest among Hispanics (OR=10.11, 95% CI=4.93-14.95) relative to the findings among other racial/ethnic groups. Our findings may guide healthcare providers when caring for pediatric and adolescent populations from different racial/ethnic backgrounds who need a lung transplant.