Rural Health Disparities – Resources

Divergent Trends in Life Expectancy Across the Rural-Urban Gradient and Association with Specific Racial Proportions in the Contiguous United States 2000-2005
Study estimating life expectancy at age 25 by rural and urban residence, race, and sex using county-level data from 2000 - 2005. Discusses geographic determinants of disparities in life expectancy in the contiguous U.S., comparing rurality and the proportion of specific race populations to life expectancy. Features color-coded maps of the contiguous U.S. that represents life expectancy at age 25 for White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian males and females.
Author(s): Yun Jian, Lucas Neas, Lynne C. Messer, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Public Health, 64(9), 1367-1374
Date: 12/2019
view details

Declines In Pediatric Mortality Fall Short For Rural US Children
Examines pediatric mortality rates from 1999-2017 and related factors of race/ethnicity and rurality. Provides data according to age, race/ethnicity, cause-specific mortality, and rural versus urban county.
Author(s): Janice Probst, Whitney Zahnd, Charity Breneman
Citation: Health Affairs, 38, 12
Date: 11/2019
view details

Lung Cancer Incidence in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties — United States, 2007–2016
Reports on lung cancer incidence rates in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties, with data by sex and by age at diagnosis. Includes data for 2007 and 2016, as well as the change in rate from 2007 to 2016. Discusses strategies to reduce exposure to lung cancer risk factors and how those strategies might be targeted to decrease disparities.
Author(s): Mary Elizabeth O'Neil, S. Jane Henley, Elizabeth A. Rohan, Taylor D. Ellington, M. Shayne Gallaway
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 68(44), 993-998
Date: 11/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details

Indian Health Disparities
Fact sheet providing statistics on American Indian and Alaska Native health disparities and mortality disparities.
Date: 10/2019
Sponsoring organization: Indian Health Service
view details

Risk Factors and Potentially Preventable Deaths in Rural Communities
Compares rates of potentially avoidable deaths in rural and urban communities and shows how these deaths vary by census region. Features statistics on modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, excessive alcohol use, and obesity, and percent of potentially preventable deaths attributable to specific health conditions, with breakdowns by rural and urban areas.
Author(s): Mark Holmes, Kristie W. Thompson
Date: 10/2019
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details

Reported Importance and Access to Health Care Providers Who Understand or Share Cultural Characteristics With Their Patients Among Adults, by Race and Ethnicity
Examines the importance and frequency of seeing culturally competent health care providers among U.S. adults, with data by race and ethnicity. Includes metropolitan and nonmetropolitan data for Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and other non-Hispanic adults.
Author(s): Emily P. Terlizzi, Eric M. Connor, Carla E. Zelaya, et al.
Date: 10/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details

Selection Biases in Technology-based Intervention Research: Patients' Technology Use Relates to Both Demographic and Health-related Inequities
Details a study on selection bias in health research, specifically the patient characteristics of people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators who were not included in an intervention on the basis of their inability to access the internet or a computer. Looks at patient demographics, such as age, race, education, and rural status, among other measures.
Author(s): Tammy Toscos, Michelle Drouin, Jessica Pater, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(8-9), 835–839
Date: 08/2019
view details

Advancing Health Equity and Access Using Telemedicine: A Geospatial Assessment
Highlights a study on the effectiveness of a virtual urgent care (VUC) program in expanding healthcare access and addressing health equity in rural populations in North Carolina. Compares rural versus urban areas and breaks down data by rates of poverty, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, and broadband access, among other measures.
Author(s): Saif Khairat, Timothy Haithcoat, Songzi Liu, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(8-9), 796–805
Date: 08/2019
view details

Unintentional Injury Death Rates in Rural and Urban Areas: United States, 1999–2017
Examines trends in unintentional injury deaths from 1999 through 2017. Provides urban versus rural age-adjusted death rates related to motor vehicle traffic injuries, unintentional drug overdoses, and unintentional falls, with data for 2014 and 2017.
Author(s): R. Henry Olaisen, Lauren M. Rossen, Margaret Warner, Robert N. Anderson
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details

Rural-Urban and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Invasive Cervical Cancer Incidence in the United States, 2010-2014
Results of a study examining 59,432 cases of cervical cancer. Features statistics on age-adjusted cervical cancer incidence, with breakdowns by race or ethnicity and urban or rural location.
Author(s): Lulu Yu, Susan A. Sabatino, Mary C. White
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 06/2019
view details