Rural–Urban Differences in Common Mental Disorders, Functional Limitation and Social Support among Adults with Cancer: A Population-Based Study in Spain

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 11; no. 10; p. 2742
• Main Authors: Portero de la Cruz, Silvia, Cebrino, Jesús
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Cancer therapies; Clinical medicine; Colorectal cancer; Influence; Mental disorders; Mental health; Population-based studies; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Rural areas; Social support; Sociodemographics; Urban areas; Variables; Well being; Spain; social support; cancer survivors; activities of daily living; psycho-oncology; mental disorders
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm11102742

The psychological, physical and social well-being components may differ for cancer patients living in urban vs. rural zones. This study aimed to examine the common mental disorders (CMDs), functional limitation (FL) and perceived social support (PSS) of rural and urban Spanish cancer patients from 2006 to 2017, to compare sociodemographic variables, health-related determinants and use of healthcare resources and to identify which sociodemographic and health-related factors were related to CMDs, FL and PSS. We performed a cross-sectional study among cancer patients using data from the Spanish National Health Surveys (2006, 2011 and 2017). A total of 698 of the subjects resided in rural areas and 1824 in urban areas. Binary logistic and multiple linear regressions were performed to determine the factors related to CMDs, FL and PSS. Rural residents visited their general practitioners more frequently than the city dwellers (61.03% vs. 56.63%, p = 0.04). A decreased prevalence of CMDs was observed among urban individuals over time (2006: 39.13%, 2011: 38.87%, 2017: 34.30%; p for trend = 0.04). Among rural residents, FL was associated with age, educational level and self-perceived health status, while among city dwellers, PSS was linked to marital status, nationality, having chronic conditions and self-perceived health status.