Background: Racial disparities in access to transplantation are well documented, but little is known about how transplant patients' distrust of the healthcare system, perceived medical racism, and previous encounters with medical discrimination contribute to these disparities. We sought to identify whether these cultural factors persist among transplant patients.

Methods: A 22 item paper survey was distributed to transplant patients attending a “Trends in Transplant” conference hosted by the Georgia Transplant Foundation in Atlanta, GA (October 2016). Validated survey questions evaluated patients' mistrust and perceived racism of healthcare organizations as well as identified experiences in which patients felt unfairly treated when getting medical care.

Results: Our study population consisted of 57 solid organ transplant patients, of whom 69% were transplant recipients and 32% ESRD patients. The mean age was 52 years, with 48% female and 58% African American. African American patients had higher medical mistrust as compared to white patients, with 82% of African Americans agreeing with the statement “You'd better be cautious when dealing with health care organizations” as compared to 36% of whites (p=.0034). African Americans also reported higher levels of perceived racism, with 56% of African Americans disagreeing that “Doctors treat African American and white people the same” as compared to 7% of whites (p=.0026). Among the 16% of patients reporting being treated unfairly while receiving medical care, 78% reported race/ethnicity as the main reason for the discrimination. Conclusion: We found that perceived medical racism, medical mistrust, and medical discrimination persist in the African American transplant patient population. Evaluating the impact of these factors as barriers to transplantation can inform future clinical practices aimed in reducing racial disparities in organ transplantation.

CITATION INFORMATION: Hamoda R, Lipford K, McPherson L, Gander J, Patzer R. Medical Mistrust, Perceived Racism, and Experiences of Medical Discrimination Among Transplant Patients. Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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