Preventive health examinations: a comparison along the rural-urban continuum

In this analysis, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data from 2000 were used to examine differences in reports of preventive health service utilization in 4 types of counties: large metropolitan counties, small metropolitan counties, counties adjacent to metropolitan places, and counties not adjacent to metropolitan areas or with fewer than 10,000 residents. Women from counties with 10,000 or fewer residents and not adjacent to a metropolitan county, classified as rural residents, were less likely to report a number of preventive health examinations during the previous 2 years. Rural women were less likely to obtain blood cholesterol tests, dental exams, and mammograms during the previous 2 years when compared to women from large metropolitan counties. Rural women were more likely to obtain blood pressure checks during the previous year when compared to the metropolitan women. Findings for exams that occurred during the preceding 1- and 2-year periods are reported for blood pressure checks, blood cholesterol checks, physical exams, colon cancer screening, dental exams, breast exams, mammograms, and Pap smears.