For renal transplantation, researchers have access selleck chemicals to population-based data about the early steps of the transplant process from the US Renal Data System [12�C14]. But for other types of solid organ transplantation, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries including liver transplantation, information about the early steps is generally unavailable, so oversight is restricted to steps after listing. We linked several secondary data sources to identify a statewide, population-based cohort of patients with Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries liver-related conditions and followed the cohort through the following stages of the transplant process: disease occurrence (incidence), disease progression (natural history), disease diagnosis, referral, and evaluation by a transplant center, placement on the transplant waiting list (listing), and receipt of an organ (transplantation).

We previously reported that demographics were important in determining the likelihood that patients with liver disease would be able to access the transplantation process for evaluation and listing, but not in affecting the likelihood that they would undergo transplantation once they were listed [15]. This initial analysis evaluated only whether or not patients progressed Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries to specific stages of the transplantation process; because of missing data, it did not address matters related to timing and timeliness. In the current paper, we estimated the relationship between sociodemographics and the time required for patients to reach specific stages of the process. Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries Specifically, we examined waiting times experienced by subsets of patients during 2 time periods.

Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries The subsets were based on gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance status. One period was the time between a patient’s diagnosis of liver disease and his or her placement on the UNOS waiting list (an interval in which there is no formal oversight or centralized data collection effort), and the other period was the time between a patient’s placement on the UNOS waiting list and his or her receipt of a transplant (an interval in which there is oversight). Our main hypothesis Batimastat was that gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance status would be associated with variation in waiting times before, but not after, placement on the transplant waiting list. 2. Methods 2.1. Data Sources and Data Management Our conceptual framework, data sources, and patient cohort have been described previously [15]. Briefly, we considered the stages in which a patient developed liver disease, was diagnosed, was referred to a transplant center and evaluated, was listed, and received a transplant.