Background: Difficulties in cancer services access increase the burden of disease and mortality in rural areas, and telehealth can be a useful tool to address these inequalities.
Objective: We aimed to describe the outcomes of patients in rural and urban areas with solid tumors managed by oncologists through telemedicine.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with solid tumors from March to December 2020. A total of 1270 subjects with solid tumors were included, 704 living in urban areas and 566 in rural areas.
Results: The most frequent tumors were breast (51.8%) and prostate (12.4%). The trend of telemedicine care was similar for both populations; in-person care was more frequent in the urban population. There were no differences in referral to the emergency room, need for hospitalization, and mortality for both groups.
Conclusion: Telemedicine is a care modality that reduces barriers in the care of patients with solid tumors, evidencing similar outcomes regardless of living in rural or urban areas.
Keywords: Latin America; Oncological patients; Solid tumors; Telehealth; Telemedicine.
© 2023. The Author(s).