Fig. 6

Influence of geographical distribution: urban vs. rural. A shows the coded therapy in relation to the cancer classification, considering the regional distribution of the patients (urban [black bars] vs. rural [gray bars]). In (B), the time expenditure due to illness and treatment is analogous to Fig. 5 but broken down by cancer classification groups and location (urban vs. rural). The time expenditure due to illness and treatment is defined by the days required for inpatient stays (- ■ -) as well as the number of outpatient treatments in a hospital (- □ -), the number of visits to a pharmacy (- • -), and the number of visits to a primary-care physician (- ▲ -) or specialist (- Δ -). The time frame spans the four quarters (4Q) before and eight quarters (8Q) after the index quarter. Q: quarter