Access to Life-Saving Organs May Be Limited in Rural Areas

The following is from Rural Patients Less Likely To Receive Organ Transplants, sciencedaily.com, Jan. 9, 2008:

Patients in small towns and isolated rural areas have lower organ transplant rates and are less likely to be wait-listed than patients in urban areas, according to a new study.

Organ transplantation offers the best, and often only hope for long-term survival for patients with end-stage heart, liver, and kidney disease. However, despite federal regulation and national efforts to ensure equal access to the limited pool of donated organs, previous research has demonstrated the presence of significant barriers to access to transplantation services for racial minorities, women, and patients with low socioeconomic status or poor insurance, according to background information in the article. Rural residents represent another group that may have impaired access to transplant services. Nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population lives outside major urban areas.***

[T]hese discrepancies may be related to differences in the burden of disease in rural environments or reduced access to entering the waiting list.***