Rural Health Disparities – Resources

CMS Office of Minority Health: Health Equity Data Book
Provides data on disparities in participation in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) programs, including data on demographics of covered individuals, chronic conditions, behavioral health conditions, and social determinants of health. Contains rural data for select programs.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Healthy Border 2030: Collaborative Action to Improve the Health and Wellbeing of the United States - Mexico Border Population
Reports on the prevailing public health issues occurring in U.S.-Mexico border populations. Assesses health data and provides strategic recommendations to promote health, prevent disease, and support population health at the binational, state, and local levels.
Date: 12/2024
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Unveiling Socioeconomic Disparities in Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Analysis of Rural and Appalachian Areas in Virginia Utilizing the Multi-Dimensional YOST Index
Examines associations of rurality, Appalachian dwelling, county socioeconomic status (SES), and other demographic factors with smoking behaviors during pregnancy. Utilizes 2009-2020 Virginia Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data.
Author(s): Asal Pilehvari, Ashley Chipoletti, Rebecca Krukowski, Melissa Little
Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 24, 828
Date: 12/2024
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2024 Rural-Urban Disparities in Health Care in Medicare
Examines rural/urban differences in the quality of healthcare received by Medicare beneficiaries in 2023, with breakdowns by race and ethnicity. Describes trends in quality of care for rural and urban residents between 2017 and 2023.
Date: 11/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
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High-Risk Rural Surgical Patients and Poor Access to Elective Colorectal Cancer Surgery: Insight for Multilevel Intervention for Rural America
Examines factors associated with poor access to elective colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery for rural patients, utilizing 2007-2020 National Inpatient Sample data for 69,212 CRC surgery-related hospitalizations. Breaks down data by race and ethnicity, sex, age, insurance type, region, rural or urban facility, and other demographic, clinical, and facility factors. Discusses access barriers and health disparities experienced by rural populations.
Author(s): Yanick Tadé, Jillian Timperley, Danielle Dilsaver, et al.
Citation: Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 28(11), 1883-1889
Date: 11/2024
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Environmental Inequality in Estimated Cancer Risk from Airborne Toxic Exposure across United States Communities from 2011 to 2019
Examines disparities in cancer risk due to airborne toxic exposure at the census tract level, utilizing American Community Survey, NATA, and AirToxScreen data sets. Breaks down cancer risk data in rural, suburban, and urban census tracts by race, educational attainment, and median household income, with year-by-year comparisons for the period 2011-2019.
Author(s): Patrick Hurbain, Matthew J. Strickland, Yan Liu, Dingsheng Li
Citation: Environmental Science & Technology, 58(43), 19115-19127
Date: 10/2024
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Access to Health Care in Rural America: Current Trends and Key Challenges
Highlights patterns in insurance coverage and uninsurance rates in rural and urban areas, explores non-financial challenges in accessing care faced by rural residents, and describes disparities in health outcomes between urban and rural areas. Features statistics on number of uninsured rural non-elderly adults by state, in 2010 and 2023.
Author(s): Gina Turrini, Eden Volkov, Christie Peters, Nancy De Lew, Thomas Buchmueller
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Prevalence of Self-Reported Diagnosed Diabetes Among Adults, by County Metropolitan Status and Region, United States, 2019–2022
Examines rural versus urban diabetes disparities according to U.S. region. Utilizes 2019-2022 National Health Interview Survey data to analyze disparities according to demographic variables such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, and bodyweight; urbanicity of large central metro, large fringe metro, small/medium metro, or nonmetro; and region of Northeast, Midwest, South, or West.
Author(s): Stephen Onufrak, Ryan Saelee, Ibrahim Zaganjor, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 21
Date: 10/2024
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Rural–Urban Differences in Dental Opioid Prescribing among Adolescent/Young Adult and Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries
Examines dental opioid prescription rates for adolescents and adults in rural and urban communities, utilizing 2021 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic Files data. Breaks down data by race and ethnicity, neighborhood disadvantage, and other demographic factors. Includes color-coded maps showing ranges of prescribing rates in rural and urban areas by state.
Author(s): Carla Shoff, Alex Sheen, Luping Qu, Natalia I. Chalmers
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 12
Date: 10/2024
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The Contribution of Rural/Urban Residence to Incidence and Survival in Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma, a Retrospective Cohort Study of the SEER 2000–2020 Database
Examines rural versus urban survival disparities related to thymic cancer. Utilizes 2000-2020 diagnosed cases from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 17-State database and provides sociodemographic information of patients and rural versus urban survival comparisons.
Author(s): Joseph Cascone, Bianca Ituarte, Vani Patel, et al.
Citation: Cancer Epidemiology, 92
Date: 10/2024
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