. Second is that the population in rural areas tends to be poor, with 14% reportedly being below the poverty level, which is in contrast to 11% in metropolitan areas. This means that health-care services are provided at a lower rate than in those areas where the potential and actual patients are more affluent. This is primarily due to divergent health-status differences and health-care needs among the poor. Third is that the percentage of elderly individuals is higher in rural areas, when compared to metropolitan areas, with their being an estimated 13% of potential and actual patients age 65 and above. This results in primarily divergent health-status differences and health-care-needs among the elderly. As instances of divergent health-status differences and health-care needs, consider that rural residents present higher rates of infant mortality, hypertension, coronary heart disease, emphysema, and other chronic conditions, while they generally have a lower rate of acute conditions (p. 225).
...