Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Mortality

Rural Death Rates from COVID-19 Surpassed Urban Death Rates in Early September 2020
Chart showing weekly COVID-19 death rates per 100,000 adults, comparing urban and rural communities. Discusses higher death rates in rural areas in early September 2020, addressing factors impacting the increase.
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Urban–Rural Differences in Drug Overdose Death Rates, 1999–2019
Examines age-adjusted drug overdose deaths in urban and rural counties. Includes urban-rural data on overdose deaths overall and for selected types of opioids and stimulants from 1999 through 2019. Identifies states with higher overdose deaths in rural counties, higher rates in urban counties, and states with no significant difference between rural and urban overdose death rates.
Author(s): Holly Hedegaard, Merianne Rose Spencer
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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COVID-19 and Rural Communities: Protecting Rural Lives and Health
Report examining the impact of COVID-19 in rural America, presenting data on case rates and mortality, prevalence in rural communities, and health conditions contributing to severe cases of COVID-19. Discusses issues of socioeconomic vulnerability, healthcare access, and public health compliance. Offers actions to address disparities, including increasing access, supporting livelihoods, and considering social determinants of health in healthcare planning.
Author(s): Jesse Bradford, Erica Coe, Kana Enomoto, Matt White
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: McKinsey & Company
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Nonmetropolitan COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Rates Surpassed Metropolitan Rates Within the First 24 Weeks of the Pandemic Declaration: United States, March 1 – October 18, 2020
Compares COVID-19 cases and death rates in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas across three 11-week periods in 2020. Features state-level maps providing a visual assessment of the changing impact that COVID-19 had on nonmetropolitan populations.
Author(s): Kevin A Matthews, Fred Ullrich, Anne H. Gaglioti, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 37(2), 272-277
Date: 03/2021
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Traffic Safety in Appalachia: Final Report
Defines the traffic safety culture in Appalachia and discusses causes of common safety problems in the region, including drug- and alcohol-impaired driving. Explores environmental concerns of Appalachian drivers, such as expansive rural regions, mountainous and curved terrain, and dense forests exposed to extreme weather elements. Includes analysis of Appalachian traffic fatalities, fatal crash data statistics, and an evaluation of the Appalachian Development Highway System as a possible intervention measure for treating traffic safety problems. Also includes a case study of severe crashes in Appalachian North Carolina, featuring statistics with breakdowns by rural and urban areas.
Additional links: Research Brief
Author(s): Wesley Kumfer, Katherine Harmon, Bo Lan, et al.
Date: 02/2021
Sponsoring organization: Appalachian Regional Commission
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Rural-Urban Disparities in All-cause Mortality among Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries, 2004–17
Examines the change in all-cause mortality rates among low-income Medicare beneficiaries dually-enrolled in Medicaid between 2004 and 2017. Compares rates between rural and urban beneficiaries by age, ethnicity, insurance type, and census region.
Author(s): Emefah Loccoh, Karen E. Joynt Maddox, Jiaman Xu, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 40(2), 289-296
Date: 02/2021
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Racial/Ethnic Heterogeneity and Rural-Urban Disparity of COVID-19 Case Fatality Ratio in the USA: a Negative Binomial and GIS-Based Analysis
Examines racial heterogeneity in COVID-19 case fatality ratio, using data from January-December 2020. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban, completely rural, and mostly rural locations.
Author(s): Ayodeji E. Iyanda, Kwadwo A. Boakye, Yongmei Lu, Joseph R. Oppong
Citation: Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 9(2), 708-721
Date: 02/2021
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Changes in Suicide Rates — United States, 2018–2019
Reports on changes in counts and age-adjusted suicide rates from 2018 to 2019. Includes data by level of county urbanicity for four levels of metropolitan areas and two nonmetro levels, overall and by sex. Also includes data on suicide mechanism of injury by level of urbanization.
Author(s): Deborah M. Stone, Christopher M. Jones, Karin A. Mack
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 70(8), 261-268
Date: 02/2021
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Racial Residential Segregation and Colorectal Cancer Mortality in the Mississippi Delta Region
Investigates whether rurality influences the relationship between racial segregation and colorectal cancer (CRC) outcomes in the Mississippi Delta Region. Features county-level data on CRC mortality, with information broken down by race and rurality.
Author(s): Aaron J. Kruse-Diehr, Justin T. McDaniel, Marquita W. Lewis-Thames, Aimee S. James, Musa Yahaya
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 18
Date: 02/2021
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QuickStats: Death Rates Attributed to Excessive Cold or Hypothermia Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years, by Urban-Rural Status and Age Group — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2019
Bar chart showing urban and rural death rates due to excessive cold or hypothermia by age group for ages 15-34, 35-54, 55-74, 75-84, and 85 or older.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 70(7), 258
Date: 02/2021
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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