Informing equitable access to care: a cross-sectional study of travel burden to primary and rheumatology care for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Achieving equity in access to care is a priority at both national and provincial levels in Canada to address health disparities. However, equitable access remains a challenge due to significantly higher rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prevalence in vast rural areas, whereas the RA care providers are primarily concentrated in the two largest cities. Rural-urban disparities in access may be partially attributed to geographic barriers. It is important to measure travel burden of people with RA for developing targeted interventions and policies to mitigate identified geographic barriers and informing equitable access to health care.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020 for people with RA in Alberta, Canada. RA cohort was ide

SUBMITTER: Liu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11951789 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature