Travel time and cancer care: an example of the inverse care law?
BACKGROUND
There is growing evidence that in rural areas cancer mortality is higher and referral occurs later, indicating different patterns of care. In Scotland services to rural areas have been organized through 'managed clinical networks'. In some cases, these organizational networks have been structured so that the referral hospital is not the one nearest to the patient's home. This study set out to discover if access to cancer specialist care in mainland Scotland altered with distance to tertiary care facilities. The aim was to explore the relationship between hospital admission rates, type of hospital and travel time.


METHODS
Retrospective analysis of all registered cancers in Scotland over the three-year period 2000-2002, examining incidence rates and accessibility of care over 3 years, measured by hospital discharge rates (equivalent to admission rates) and mean bed days for cancer patients.


RESULTS
The type of hospital to which a cancer patient was admitted and the duration of admission varied with travel distance from a patient's home. All patients travelling more than one hour had lower admission rates to a specialist cancer centre. Those travelling more than 3 hours were not always admitted to the facility nearest their home address and were admitted for significantly fewer days than all other groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences in tertiary cancer care obtained may explain some of the reasons behind late presentation and higher mortality rates. This study provides evidence that the recognized increased cancer mortality in rural patients is indeed compounded by an increased travel burden.
Baird
G
G
Dumfries and Galloway, Sandhead Surgery, Wigtownshire, UK.
Flynn
R
R
Baxter
G
G
Donnelly
M
M
Lawrence
J
J
D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D016522:Oncology Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014195:Travel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*