Objective: Rural-urban disparities in cancer care are well documented. However, research on rural-urban disparities regarding patient-reported outcomes (PROs) is still developing. This study analyzed rural-urban disparities in patients with cancer with respect to anxiety, depression, fatigue, pain interference, and physical function.

Methods: This study was conducted at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute. We integrated data from electronic health records, Cancer Registry, and PRO questionnaires. We assessed the association between rurality status (rural vs. urban) in patients with cancer and PRO scores using multiple linear regression models and t-tests.

Results: The cohort included 7271 patients. The mean age was 59.1 years at cancer diagnosis and 48.2% (n = 3505) were female. Across all cancer types, significant differences (Rural vs. Urban) were found for fatigue (53.6 vs. 54.1; p < 0.05) and physical function (45.5 vs. 45.1; p < 0.05). With respect to specific cancer types, there were differences in patients with oral cavity and pharynx cancer for depression (47.9 vs. 50.6; p < 0.01), fatigue (51.6 vs. 54.8; p < 0.05), pain interference (52.8 vs. 55.4; p < 0.05), and physical function (48.0 vs. 44.6; p < 0.01), colorectal cancer for fatigue (56.8 vs. 54.7; p < 0.05), pain interference (56.0 vs. 53.7; p < 0.05), and physical function (42.2 vs. 44.4; p < 0.05), uterus cancer for depression (47.5 vs. 50.5; p < 0.05) and fatigue (51.6 vs. 54.7; p < 0.05), and lung cancer for physical function (37.6 vs. 39.3; p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Across all cancer types, as well as specific cancers, this study found mostly limited rural-urban differences regarding PROs. Except for colorectal and lung/bronchus cancer, patients living in rural areas reported similar or better PRO scores for all cancer types. Results support the hypothesis that improving access can help to level rural-urban disparities regarding cancer care outcomes, because all patients were treated in the same comprehensive cancer center, had similar access to care, and had similar PRO scores.

© 2025 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

目标： 癌症护理的城乡差异已有充分记录。然而，关于患者报告结果（PROs）方面城乡差异的研究仍在发展之中。本研究分析了在焦虑、抑郁、疲劳、疼痛干扰和身体功能方面，患有癌症患者的城乡差异。

方法： 该研究在犹他大学亨茨曼癌症研究所进行。我们整合了来自电子健康记录、癌症登记处和PRO问卷的数据。使用多元线性回归模型和t检验评估了患癌患者城乡状况（农村 vs. 城市）与PRO分数之间的关联。

结果： 研究队列包括7271名患者。在癌症诊断时的平均年龄为59.1岁，48.2% (n = 3505) 是女性。所有类型的癌症中，在疲劳（农村 vs 城市：53.6 vs 54.1；p

结论： 在整个癌症类型和特定类型的癌症中，本研究发现大多数关于PROs的城乡差异是有限的。除了结直肠癌和肺/支气管癌外，在所有癌症类型中居住在农村地区的患者报告了类似或更好的PRO评分。结果支持改善获取资源可以有助于缩小癌症护理成果方面的城乡差距这一假设，因为所有患者的治疗都在同一个综合性癌症中心进行，并且具有类似的访问条件和相似的PRO评分。

© 2025 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.