Rurality index score and pediatric neuro-oncological outcome in Ontario

Rapid access to neurosurgical decisions and definitive management are vital for the outcome of neurocritical patients. There are unique challenges associated with the provision of services required to maintain critical infrastructure for rural citizens. Given that a relationship between rurality, marginalization, and health outcomes has been identified as associated with higher mortality rates and higher rates of many diseases, the authors studied whether worse clinical outcomes were associated with rurality in pediatric neuro-oncological disease.

Using linked administrative databases, the authors retrospectively analyzed a population-based cohort of patients diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor between 1996 and 2017 in Ontario, Canada. The main variable of interest was the Rurality Index for Ontario (RIO; larger value denotes more rural); the main outcome was survival, while controlling for surgery and tumor type.

Of the 1428 patients included, 53.9% were male. Overall survival of all the children (controlling for surgery and tumor type) at 1, 5, and 10 years was 84.7%, 65.1%, and 58.4%, respectively. A total of 11.5% were classified as living in a rural area of Ontario. The distance to the nearest pediatric neurosurgical hospital ranged from 25.6 to 167.4 km. The RIO score was 0 in 38.7% of children, and the majority of patients had a RIO score < 40. A higher RIO score was not a significant factor (continuous p = 0.12/ordinal p = 0.18) associated with length of follow-up, indicating that rurality was not significantly linked to compliance with clinical follow-up.

Rurality of the region in which pediatric neuro-oncological patients reside was not associated with patient outcome (HR 0.83, p = 0.39).