S2934 Demographic Disparities Between Liver Transplant Donors and Recipients in the United States: A Nationwide OPTN Analysis

Introduction: Equity in liver transplantation remains a central focus of transplant policy and clinical research. Differences in donor and recipient demographics may reflect broader social, systemic, and biological factors influencing transplant access and organ allocation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) database from January 1988 through April 2025. We compared demographic distributions of liver donors and recipients across gender, race, and ethnicity using Chi-square tests to evaluate statistical significance using SPSS IBM version 26.0. Results: A total of 248,049 liver donors and 226,994 recipients were analyzed. Male individuals were more likely to be recipients than donors (62.3% vs 59.6%, P < 0.001). Racial distributions differed significantly between groups (P < 0.001): White, non-Hispanic individuals represented 68.3% of donors vs 71.0% of recipients; Black, non-Hispanic individuals accounted for 15.1% of donors vs 8.8% of recipients. Similarly, significant differences were observed in ethnicity (P < 0.001), with Hispanic/Latino individuals comprising 13.2% of donors and 14.5% of recipients. Conclusion: Significant demographic disparities exist between liver transplant donors and recipients in the U.S., particularly across race, gender, and ethnicity. These findings underscore the need for ongoing equity-focused strategies in transplant allocation and outreach efforts to underrepresented communities.