Rural men are dying earlier than their urban counterparts, and they’re spending fewer of their later years in good health, according to new research from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Higher rates of smoking, obesity and cardiovascular conditions among rural men are helping to fuel an urban-rural divide in illness, and this gap has grown over time, according to the study published in the Journal of Rural Health. The findings suggest that by the time rural men reach age 60, there are limited opportunities to fully address this disparity, and earlier interventions may be needed to prevent it from widening further.

The findings also point to a rising demand for care in rural areas, which will particularly challenge these communities. Rural areas are more likely than urban ones to have shortages of healthcare providers and are aging faster as younger residents move to cities, which further shrinks the supply of potential caregivers.

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