Geography May Play Role in Transplants

A recent study shows that patients who need organ transplants may be less likely to get them if they live in a rural area.

The study, featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that rural residents are 15 percent less likely to go on waiting lists for organs. They are 20 percent less likely to get a kidney, liver or heart transplant.

The study examined a sample of transplant patients from 1999 to 2004.

Dr. David Axelrod, a doctor at Dartmouth-Hancock Medical Center, said that more research will have to be done to determine why the difference in care exists.

To read more on the study, click here. 

Posted February 13, 2008.