Disparities in colonoscopy utilization for lower gastrointestinal bleeding in rural vs urban settings in the United States

Table 1 Characteristics of patients admitted for lower gastrointestinal bleeding, stratified by geography

Variable	Urban (n = 141571)	Rural (n = 16177)	P value
Age	73.01	74.35	< 0.0001
18-64	24.2%	20.3%
65-74	22.2%	22.3%
75-84	27.6%	29.6%
85+	22.9%	24.5%
Sex			< 0.0001
Male	48.1%	46.3%
Female	51.9%	53.7%
Race			< 0.0001
White	63.9%	74.6%
Black	18.5%	10.8%
Hispanic	8.2%	2.3%
Asian	2.7%	1.9%
Other	2.1%	1.0%
Missing	4.6%	9.4%
Payer			< 0.0001
Medicare	74.3%	78.8%
Medicaid	5.4%	4.3%
Commercial	16.0%	12.4%
Other	4.3%	4.4%
Missing	0.1%	0.3%
Comorbidities
Number	1.38	1.32	< 0.0001
Charlson index	1.89	1.77	< 0.0001
Colonoscopy			< 0.0001
Yes	45.1%	37.9%
No	54.9%	62.1%
Hospital bed size			< 0.0001
Small	15.5%	10.8%
Medium	29.5%	18.9%
Large	54.9%	70.2%
Region			< 0.0001
Northeast	33.2%	21.8%
Midwest	44.2%	20.8%
South	50.0%	39.9%
West	28.4%	17.4%
Teaching			< 0.0001
No	45.5%	100.0%
Yes	54.5%	0.0%