Rural Patients are Better About Utilizing Preventive Imaging

If you were asked to stereotype the average person who was likely to go in to the doctor for preventive imaging, what would you say? More specifically, if you were asked where the person lived, would you say in a city or out in the country? Most people would assume that it's the urban individual who is more likely to take advantage of the benefits of preventive medicine. Most people would be wrong. Research indicates that rural patients are actually more likely than their urban counterparts to receive an early diagnosis for both lung cancer and colon cancer. This information flies in the face of stereotypes which tend to have people believing that medical technology is more readily available and so more widely used in urban areas than in rural ones. Being aware of the truth behind the stereotypes help doctors better treat their patients. "Knowing which types of patients are more likely to present with more advanced cancers helps doctors better implement screening efforts, allowing them to diagnose patients at earlier stages and improve their prognoses." (Source) It also helps remind urban dwellers that they might want to take a lesson from their rural friends every now and then. photo link