Does geography matter? The health service use and unmet health care needs of older Canadians.

The rising cost of health care and changing demographic profiles have resulted in the relocation and redistribution of funding and services between rural and urban areas. Most econometric analyses of Canada's health service use include broad controls by province and rural/urban status, but relatively little econometric work has focused on geographical variation in health service use. Using the Canadian Community Health Survey 2.1, we examined determinants of various measures of health services use by Canadians aged 55 or older across a range of urban and rural areas of residence. Our regression analysis showed that older residents in rural areas made fewer visits to a general practitioner, to a specialist, and to a dentist relative to urban residents. All else being equal, there are no significant differences in hospital nights or in unmet healthcare needs. These differences are significant after controlling for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, private health insurance, and health status.