Rural–urban residence and cancer survival in high-income countries: A systematic review

Abstract

There is some evidence that place of residence is associated with cancer survival, but the findings are inconsistent, and the underlying mechanisms by which residential location might affect survival are not well understood. We conducted a systematic review of observational studies investigating the association of rural versus urban residence with cancer survival in high-income countries. We searched the Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) databases up to May 31, 2016. Forty-five studies published between 1984 and 2016 were included. We extracted unadjusted and adjusted relative risk estimates with the corresponding 95% confidence inter..