Date of Conferral
2023
Degree
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
School
Health Services
Advisor
Stacy-Ann Christian
Abstract
The literature indicates that cancer patients in rural areas lack adequate access to clinical trials and may experience more harmful consequences than patients residing in urban areas. The purpose of the study was to compare cancer survival rates among patients living in rural and urban counties in a southeastern U.S. state with breast cancer and lung cancer. Analysis was conducted using secondary data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program tumor registry, Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) tumor registry, and CCC OnCore Subject Accrual Data. A series of independent samples t-tests and factorial ANOVA were conducted to test urban-rural differences and differences in enrollments in clinical trials. A comparison of the 5-year survival rates of breast cancer and lung cancer patients from rural and urban counties showed roughly equivalent survival rates. Thus, findings did not support the hypothesis of higher lung or breast cancer survival rates among patients from urban areas. Clinical trial enrollment rates at CCC were significantly higher among breast cancer patients than among lung cancer patients. However, clinical trial enrollment rates did not differ significantly between rural and urban classification. Further research on the representation of rural patients with different cancer types is needed at the CCC and other cancer centers. Implications for positive social change include improving clinical trial participation and thus survival rates among rural and urban patients diagnosed with lung cancer or breast cancer.
Recommended Citation
Kurilo, Tatiana, "Survival Rates and Clinical Trial Participation Among Rural Cancer Patients" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 14271.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/14271
