Trends in survival after heart transplantation based on Social Vulnerability Index in the United States

Background The association of social vulnerability (SV) and cardiac transplant survival remains poorly defined, particularly related to long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to define the impact of SV on survival among heart transplant recipients with at least 1 year of survival post-transplant.Methods Heart transplant recipients were identified using the United Network for Organ Sharing database between June 1, 2006, and December 31, 2020. The Center for Disease Control's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) database was used to stratify patients based on SVI into 3 groups: low: Results There were 27,740 recipients identified. High SVI patients more commonly identified as Black individuals and had a higher incidence of diabetes, pretransplant intensive care unit admission, and need for concomitant kidney transplant (p p p p Conclusion High or average SVI is independently associated with increased mortality following heart transplantation in patients with 1-year conditional survival. These findings demonstrate that disparities persist among heart transplant recipients during long-term follow-up.