Older adults in rural areas have worse health outcomes than those in urban areas, says a new study, because of greater barriers to healthcare access.
An Oregon study of adults over 85 years of age found that rural residents have significantly higher levels of chronic disease, take more medications, and die several years earlier than their urban counterparts.
The findings are especially significant considering that by 2050, 25% of United States’ population is going to be 60 years of age and older.
“There are fewer physicians, fewer specialists, a higher caseload (in rural areas). Doctors have less support staff and patients have less public transportation. A patient sometimes might need to wait months to see a doctor, and have to drive significant distances,” said study author Leah Goeres.
“These are real barriers to choice and access, and they affect the quality of care that’s available.”
Researchers found that while rural participants survived for a median of 3.5 years post 2000, urban participants survived for more than double that time, a median of 7.1 years. They also found that rural participants were sicker than urban participants, and also got worse more quickly. Further, on average, rural participants took 5.5 prescription medications compared with 3.7 for urban participants.
“It’s been known for some time that health care is harder to access in rural areas, and this helps us better understand the extent of the problem,” said Goeres.