Clinical outcomes in patients with solid tumors living in rural and urban areas followed via telemedicine: experience in a highly complex latin american hospital.
BMC Cancer
; 23(1): 253, 2023 Mar 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2278170
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Difficulties in cancer services access increase the burden of disease and mortality in rural areas, and telehealth can be a useful tool to address these inequalities.OBJECTIVE:
We aimed to describe the outcomes of patients in rural and urban areas with solid tumors managed by oncologists through telemedicine.METHODS:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with solid tumors from March to December 2020. A total of 1270 subjects with solid tumors were included, 704 living in urban areas and 566 in rural areas.RESULTS:
The most frequent tumors were breast (51.8%) and prostate (12.4%). The trend of telemedicine care was similar for both populations; in-person care was more frequent in the urban population. There were no differences in referral to the emergency room, need for hospitalization, and mortality for both groups.CONCLUSION:
Telemedicine is a care modality that reduces barriers in the care of patients with solid tumors, evidencing similar outcomes regardless of living in rural or urban areas.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Telemedicine
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Cancer
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12885-023-10717-5
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