Table 2.
Urban-rural area differences in cardiac rehabilitation eligibility, center-based utilization and availability, and fixed-terrestrial broadband internet access.
| Urban areas | Rural areas | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility rate, median (IQR), per 1000 beneficiaries | 15.5 (13.2-18.4) | 17.4 (14.5-21.0) | <.0001 |
| Counties estimated, n (%) | 1154 (38) | 1877 (62) | <.0001 |
| Participation rate, median (IQR), % | 30.6 (22.0-39.4) | 34.6 (22.6-48.3) | <.0001 |
| Counties estimated, n (%) | 1057 (45) | 1296 (55) | <.0001 |
| Mean sessions completed, median (IQR), n | 25.3 (22.6-27.5) | 25.0 (21.1-28.2) | .0661 |
| Counties estimated, n (%) | 1057 (45) | 1296 (55) | <.0001 |
| Completion rate, median (IQR), % | 31.3 (22.0-41.5) | 39.8 (28.6-50.0) | <.0001 |
| Counties estimated, n (%) | 748 (59) | 520 (41) | <.0001 |
| Counties with no hospitals offering center-based CR, No. (%) | 428 (37) | 1106 (59) | <.0001 |
| Households per county, median (IQR), n | 97183 (32267-220265) |
16829 (8384-32529) |
<.0001 |
| Households of adults ≥65 years of age | |||
| Proportion of households, median (IQR), % |
16.1 (13.6-18.3) | 19.0 (16.8-21.6) | <.0001 |
| Proportion with no fixed-terrestrial BIA, median (IQR), % |
23.8 (18.1-29.2) | 31.6 (26.5-37.6) | <.0001 |
Abbreviation: BIA, broadband internet access; CR, cardiac rehabilitation; US, United States. Urban and rural area categories reflect United States (US) Census 2010 geography and urban-rural classification structure defined in 2013 by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The total number of counties recognized by United States (US) Census 2010 classifications was 3,142. The maximum number of counties where any of the four cardiac rehabilitation (CR) utilization metrics could be estimated for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries aged ≥65 years was 3,031. For counties where CR utilization data estimates could not be generated for Medicare FFS beneficiaries aged ≥65 years this was because of inadequate population size and/or not enough qualifying events occurred during 2017-2018.