Ohta Ryuichi, Sano Chiaki
Community Care, Unnan City Hospital, Unnan, JPN.
Community Medicine Management, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, Izumo, JPN.
Cureus. 2024 May 19;16(5):e60635. doi: 10.7759/cureus.60635. eCollection 2024 May.
This study investigates disparities in chemotherapy treatment for unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between urban and rural populations. Despite advancements in NSCLC treatments enhancing survival, significant inequities persist, notably in rural areas where access to care is often limited, resulting in poorer outcomes. Through a systematic review and meta-analysis, we analyzed data from selected studies that compare chemotherapy access and usage between these populations from 2010 to 2024. Our findings indicate that rural patients are consistently less likely to receive advanced chemotherapy treatments than urban counterparts, with a pooled odds ratio of 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-1.00), suggesting a marginal but noticeable disparity. This highlights a crucial gap in healthcare provision, underscoring the need for policy interventions and improved healthcare practices to ensure equitable treatment access. This research calls for further investigation into socioeconomic and cultural factors contributing to these disparities to inform targeted improvement strategies.
本研究调查了城乡人口在不可切除非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）化疗治疗方面的差异。尽管NSCLC治疗取得了进展，提高了生存率，但显著的不平等现象仍然存在，尤其是在农村地区，那里的医疗服务可及性往往有限，导致治疗结果较差。通过系统综述和荟萃分析，我们分析了2010年至2024年期间比较这些人群化疗可及性和使用情况的选定研究的数据。我们的研究结果表明，农村患者接受晚期化疗治疗的可能性始终低于城市患者，合并比值比为0.91（95%置信区间（CI）：0.83 - 1.00），表明存在微小但明显的差异。这凸显了医疗保健提供方面的一个关键差距，强调需要政策干预和改进医疗实践，以确保公平的治疗可及性。这项研究呼吁进一步调查导致这些差异的社会经济和文化因素，为有针对性的改进策略提供依据。
