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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Beliefs of US Chiefs of Police about Substance Use Disorder, Fentanyl Exposure, Overdose Response, and Use of Discretion: Results from a National Survey
Examines police chief perceptions regarding substance use. Focuses on issues such as discretion when making arrests, overdose response, risks of fentanyl exposure, de-escalation practices, harmful drugs in their communities, and buprenorphine obtained via illicit means. Analyzes survey data from 276 police chiefs regarding their knowledge and attitudes on addiction and policing, with breakdowns according to their region, urbanicity, and experience.
Author(s): Amelia Bailey, Barbara Andraka-Christou, Saba Rouhani, et al.
Citation: Health & Justice, 13, 13
Date: 03/2025
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Lung Cancer Disparities in Rural, Persistent Poverty Counties: A Secondary Data Analysis
Examines lung cancer incidence and mortality according to county-level smoking rates, rurality, and poverty. Analyzes county types, such as urban and non-persistent poverty, urban and persistent poverty, rural and non-persistent poverty, and rural and persistent poverty as correlated with lung cancer disparities.
Author(s): Veronica Bernacchi, Kelly Hirko, Eric Adjei Boakye, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 25, 878
Date: 03/2025
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Legal-Involved Veterans Are Less Likely to Receive Guideline-Concordant Colorectal Cancer Screening
Examines rates of screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) for veterans who are legal-involved. Provides Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health record data on CRC for veterans who are and who are not legal-involved, with further breakdowns by demographic variables, such as rurality.
Author(s): Kenneth J. Nieser, Alex H. S. Harris, Ingrid A. Binswanger, Sean C. Clark, Andrea K. Finlay
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 333
Date: 03/2025
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Vaccine-Preventable Conditions: Disparities in Hospitalizations Affecting Rural Communities in the Southeast United States
Examines hospitalizations related to vaccine-preventable diseases in southeastern U.S. communities. Analyzes data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and during the pandemic across 3 age groups: pre-school children, school-aged children, and adults. Provides data breakdowns according to condition, age, and large metro, small/medium metro, or micro/non-core location.
Author(s): Etienne Pracht, Christina Eldredge, Divyani Tangudu, Richa Phuel, Athanasios Tsalatsanis
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(4), 466
Date: 03/2025
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Women's Experiences with Preventive and Health Care Services: Findings from the 2024 KFF Women's Health Survey
Provides information on utilization of women's healthcare services with 2024 KFF survey data. Focuses on healthcare status, healthcare access, preventative health services, and more, with breakdowns by demographic variables, including urbanicity for select findings.
Author(s): Ivette Gomez, Brittni Frederiksen, Alina Salganicoff
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Screening and Referral Programs for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Can Community Pharmacists Bridge the Care Gap?
Examines the community-based valued-driven care initiative (CVCI) in community pharmacies to evaluate its effectiveness related to screening and referral (S&R) to treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Analyzes patient demographics and success rates of CVD and DM S&R in 6 community pharmacies, with both rural and urban locations represented.
Author(s): Melanie Livet, Amber Watson, Shweta Pathak, et al.
Citation: Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy, 17, 100539
Date: 03/2025
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Designated Rural Towns, Connecticut
Map with shadings showing designated rural areas, defined as areas with both U.S. Census populations of 10,000 or less and population density of 500 or less per square mile, and HRSA-designated rural areas.
Date: 02/2025
Sponsoring organization: Connecticut State Office of Rural Health
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2024 Texas Hospital Nurse Staffing Study: Rural and Critical Access Hospitals
Compares nurse staffing in Texas's rural Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), rural non-CAH hospitals, and non-rural hospitals, utilizing 2024 Hospital Nurse Staffing Survey data. Provides data on vacancies, turnover, and budgeting for the nurse workforce.
Date: 02/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, Texas Health and Human Services
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Mortality Trends of Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Adult Population of the United States: A CDC WONDER Analysis from 1999 to 2020
Examines demographic disparities in traumatic brain injury (TBI) mortality, utilizing 1999-2020 CDC Wonder data of 1,026,185 TBI-related deaths. See Fig. 5 for data breakdowns by level of rurality and year.
Author(s): Muhammad Hamza Dawood, Yusra Fazli, Sejal Lund, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 25, 482
Date: 02/2025
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Virginia's Physician Workforce: 2024
An overview of the physician workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2024 Physician Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of physicians in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 02/2025
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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