Association of Rural Hospital Admissions with Access, Treatment, and Mortality for Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction in Shanxi, China

China recently launched healthcare reforms to reduce disparities in healthcare resources between urban and rural areas. However, few studies have determined how admission to rural hospitals has affected patient care and outcomes. This study aims to determine whether admission to a rural hospital is associated with changes in treatment and outcomes. Using a province-wide, administrative database of 62,380 patients (51,355 urban patients vs. 11,025 rural patients) with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Shanxi from 2015 to 2017, we identified the differential distance from the patient's residential address to the nearest hospital and the nearest percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-capable hospital as instrumental variables. We estimated the risk-adjusted differences in outcomes and treatments for patients admitted to rural hospitals versus urban hospitals using a two-stage least squares instrumental variable analysis method. Based on instrumental variable analysis, admission to a rural hospital was associated with a 5.3% (95% CI, 0.012 to 0.093; p = 0.011) increase in mortality. There was a 59.8% (95% CI, -0.733 to -0.463; p-values < 0.0001) decrease in receiving PCI, an 18.8% (95% CI, -0.231 to -0.146; p-values < 0.0001) decrease in receiving fibrinolysis, and a 71.8% (95% CI, 0.586 to 0.849; p-values < 0.0001) increase in receiving medication-only treatment for patients admitted to rural hospitals. Rural hospitals in China thus offer relatively poor care for myocardial infarction. Hospital facilities and reperfusion therapies must be improved.