Volume twenty-two, Issue 2

Evidence on the association of socioeconomic deprivation with occurrence of acute myocardial infarction is available from international studies and urban settings in western Germany. This study examines this association in rural eastern Germany.

Anemia is a global public health issue that mainly affects children under five years old. In Peru, despite the  reduction in the prevalence of anemia between 2010 and 2018, anemia remains a major concern, especially in high-risk zones such as rural areas. This study examines the difference in anemia prevalence between urban and rural areas and its spatial distribution in Peruvian children aged 6 to 59 months.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic inflammatory disease that causes functional limitation, disability, and deterioration of quality of life without adequate and timely management, is the most prevalent inflammatory arthropathy worldwide, and is estimated to affect 0.5–1% of the global population and 0.6–6.8% of the Indigenous peoples of the USA, Australia and New Zealand. This study describes attitudes, cultural knowledge, and therapeutic practices of the Misak people of Colombia concerning RA with the aims of strengthening relationships between the community and health professionals and building on an emergent culturally sensitive healthcare model.

Pain is a common and distressing symptom in people living with cancer that requires a patient-centred approach to management. Since 2010, the Australian Government has invested heavily in developing regional cancer centres to improve cancer outcomes. This study explores patient and carer experiences of care from a regional cancer centre with specific reference to cancer pain management.

Declining house-call rates have been documented worldwide; however, up-to-date data on current rates are lacking, particularly in rural settings. Systematic reviews in this area are inconsistent, but other work, principally qualitative research, demonstrates benefits for both doctors and patients. This study establishes the current rate of, and reasons for, home visits in a rural general practice setting in the north-west of Ireland.

Falls are prevalent in patients with Parkinson Disease (PD). Previous work has focused on the impact of motor and non-motor symptoms on falls, but has ignored the impact of environmental factors, such as rurality of residence, economic level and quality and availability of caregiving. This study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of falls in patients with PD and explores the impact of rurality on falls.

Virtual Health Care (VH) provides new opportunities for rural healthcare delivery but also highlights and exacerbates inequities in care. This Commentary describes the implementation of equity-informed knowledge translation processes in rural British Columbia, which can help address these inequities and improve VH for rural regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted embedded inequities and fragmentation in our health systems that have been perpetuated by traditional health professional education. The authors of this Commentary contend that we must seize this moment to transform medical education and produce a fit-for-purpose health workforce, ready to respond to pandemics and address social injustice and inequality.

This Commentary considers the use of spatial analysis to depict rural and remote allied health and disability services in Queensland. It suggests that such quantitative approaches to understanding 'thin markets', 'market sufficiency' and 'market diversity' are insufficient. The authors suggest additional considerations that should inform policy, funding and service planning decisions.

This paper investigates whether ‘inclusive’ health systems increase societal welfare, as expressed through estimates of healthy life expectancy (HLE). The analysis uses OECD data to explore the relationship between HLE at the age of 65 and four variables that are representative of institutional ‘inclusivity’ or ‘extractiveness’ of health systems. The development of health policies that aim to strengthen 'inclusive' institutions could have a significant positive impact on collective welfare and social cohesion – especially for populations in rural, remote and less developed parts of the world.

Providing postgraduate rural training programs has been recognized as central for successful recruitment and retention of a rural medical workforce. While there have been many documented cases of rural training program development, documented program outcome evaluations are few. This review investigates how postgraduate training and educational programs for rural and remote medicine are evaluated worldwide.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged population health researchers to use remote data collection methods to avoid interpersonal interaction, but the feasibility in low-resource settings had not been investigated. This study reports on experiences from telephone interviews conducted among pregnant women in the Rajarata Pregnancy Cohort, Sri Lanka.

Infections bear a significant burden on healthcare costs worldwide. This Short Communication explores antibiotic and hospital-related costs of infections needing admission in a real-world setting.

In remembrance of Professor Denese Playford.