Sick children from rural areas in the United States have more complex medical problems and cost more to treat than urban or suburban kids, a new hospital study finds.
Researchers who analyzed admissions at 41 children's hospitals found significant differences between city kids and their country counterparts. Rural children, for instance, were more likely to require readmission, tended to be from poorer homes and traveled five times as far, on average, for specialized health care.
"Children's hospitals and rural health care providers face challenges when coordinating services for rural children, particularly children with chronic conditions," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Alon Peltz.
New, innovative approaches are needed to provide more health care supports to rural areas, said Peltz, a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn.
[For more of this story, written by Steven Reinberg, go to http://consumer.healthday.com/...dy-finds-709818.html]
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