Geographic Disparities in Previously Diagnosed Health Conditions in Colorectal Cancer Patients Are Largely Explained by Age and Area Level Disadvantage

Abstract

Background: Geographical disparity in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival rates may be partly due to aging populations and disadvantage in more remote locations; factors that also impact the incidence and outcomes of other chronic health conditions. The current study investigates whether geographic disparity exists amongst previously diagnosed health conditions in CRC patients above and beyond age and area-level disadvantage and whether this disparity is linked to geographic disparity in CRC survival.Methods: Data regarding previously diagnosed health conditions were collected via computer-assisted telephone interviews with a cross-sectional sample of n = 1,966 Australian CRC patients between 2003 and 2004. Ten-year survival outcomes were acquired in December 2014 from cancer registry data. Multivariate logistic regressions were applied to test associations between previously diagnosed health conditions and survival rates in rural, regional, and metropolitan areas.Results: Results suggest that only few geographical disparities exist in previously diagnosed health conditions for CRC patients and these were largely explained by socio-economic status and age. Living in an inner regional area was associated with cardio-vascular conditions, one or more respiratory diseases, and multiple respiratory diagnoses. Higher occurrences of these conditions did not explain lower CRC-specific 10 years survival rates in inner regional Australia.Conclusion: It is unlikely that health disparities in terms of previously diagnosed conditions account for poorer CRC survival in regional and remote areas. Interventions to improve the health of regional CRC patients may need to target issues unique to socio-economic disadvantage and older age.

The incidence of multimorbidity and patterns in accumulation of chronic conditions: A systematic review

“…After removing duplicates and non-original articles, 2,926 studies were identified, of which 109 were retained for full-text screening. A total of 73 articles were excluded following full-text review or qualitative synthesis, 34 …”

A cyberGIS approach to exploring neighborhood‐level social vulnerability for disaster risk management

“…Geographical health disparities have created social vulnerabilities that have led to disasters. “Geographical health disparities are thought to be due, not only to limited physical access to health care, but also to differences in demography, attitudes, lifestyle factors, and cultural practices in regional and rural settings” (Goodwin et al, 2018). Social vulnerability refers to: (1) the susceptibility of a social group to potential negative impacts such as economic losses and human suffering caused by external stresses on humans as well as (2) their capacity to recover from the impacts of hazards (Armas & Gavris, 2013; Blaikie et al, 2014; Cannon, 1994; Cutter & Emrich, 2006; Deyle et al, 1998; Godschalk, 1991; Mitchell, 1990).…”

“…demography, attitudes, lifestyle factors, and cultural practices in regional and rural settings" (Goodwin et al, 2018).…”