A very surprising study of almost 46 million Medicare patients found out that residents of rural areas have more chances of getting one of the nine common surgical operations than those living in the city. These findings challenge the current notion that people in cities have better access to surgery than those from the rural areas.

The study says that hip and knee replacements, back surgery, and prostate removal are among the surgeries that are carried out more often for Medicare patients in rural areas. Moreover, elective and emergency surgeries are both more commonly performed among rural residents than those from the cities.

Although the study challenges the idea that city people have better access to health care, many experts believe that the study raises more questions than answers. For example, the researchers did not specify where the procedures were performed, only that they live in rural areas. Therefore, it is possible that the surgeries were conducted in the city.

Moreover, the study did not have a clear report on the outcome of the said surgeries. Nor did it indicate if people living in rural areas have generally poorer health than those living in the city that is why they need more surgical treatments.

Lead author, Dr. Mark Francis, said that the results of their study could mean a lot of things. It is possible that people from rural areas are sicker, get surgeries they do not necessarily need, or are delaying treatment to simple illnesses which then lead to a condition prompting surgical procedures. Whatever the reason is, it cannot be found in this particular study which based their data on the 2006 Medicare patients report.