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Rural Health Disparities – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Health Disparities.

Rural-Urban Differences in Cardiovascular Mortality in the United States, 2010-2022
Examines rural versus urban disparities in cardiovascular mortality. Utilizes 2010-2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiological Research data and provides mortality rates according to year, patient age, and urban, small/medium metro, or rural location.
Author(s): Lucas X. Marinacci, ZhaoNian Zheng, Stephen Mein, Rishi K. Wadhera
Citation: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 85(1)
Date: 11/2024
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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 & Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
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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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Associations between Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index Scores, Rurality, and Histoplasmosis Incidence, 8 US States
Examines association between histoplasmosis and race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and rurality, utilizing county-level Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index (MH SVI) data. Breaks down histoplasmosis infection rates by level of rurality, with additional data on rurality and infection for 8 MH SVI themes including socioeconomic status, minority status and language, healthcare infrastructure and access, and more. Discusses rural health access and health disparities.
Author(s): Dallas J. Smith, Malavika Rajeev, Kristina Boyd, et al.
Citation: Emerging Infectious Diseases, 30(10)
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Obstetric Outcomes among Rural Parturients across US Urban and Rural Hospitals
Examines severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMM) among rural parturients giving birth at rural versus urban hospitals, utilizing 2015-2022 Vizient Clinical Data Base (CDB) data of 214,296 patients. Includes data and discussion of the relationship between SMM and receipt of blood transfusion, race and ethnicity, type of hospital, and other clinical and demographic factors.
Author(s): Courtney L. Strickland, Dmitry Tumin, Alyssa Harris, Hannah Murphy, James L. Whiteside
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 24(3), 8836
Date: 09/2024
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Rural-Urban Disparities in Hospital Services and Outcomes for Children With Medical Complexity
Examines differences in availability of hospital pediatric services for rural and urban children with medical complexity requiring hospitalization, and analyzes whether hospitals' availability of pediatric services influences rural-urban health outcome disparities. Utilizes 2012-2017 claims data of 36,943 children with medical complexity. Includes data on hospitalization patterns, service availability, quality measures, and mortality.
Author(s): JoAnna K. Leyenaar, Seneca D. Freyleue, Mary Arakelyan, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 7(9), e2435187
Date: 09/2024
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Rural-Urban Residence and Life Expectancies With and Without Pain
Analyzes disparities in life expectancy and pain-free years of life remaining among rural, suburban, and urban upper-middle aged and older adults with and without chronic pain. Utilizes U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data for 18,160 individuals from 2000-2018. Includes data breakdowns by region, age group, sex, and severity of pain.
Author(s): Feinuo Sun, Zachary Zimmer, Nicolas Brouard
Citation: Health & Place, 89, 103305
Date: 09/2024
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Discharge Disposition for Home Health Care Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia: The Role of Living Arrangements and Rural Living
Examines rural versus urban differences in living arrangements and their impact on discharge disposition of patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). Analyzes 531,269 Medicare fee-for-service patient records with data breakdowns for living arrangement, such as living alone, living at home with others, or living in a congregate setting, as well as sociodemographic and health condition variables. Discusses rural versus urban disparities when a patient discharges to their community or an institution and the impact of social support on ADRD patients.
Author(s): Daniel Jung, Jeong Ha (Steph) Choi, Kerstin Gerst Emerson
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(1)
Date: 08/2024
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Disparities Impact Statement
Guidance through a 5 step process for healthcare providers and other healthcare focused organizations to identify and address health disparities among various people groups including rural and tribal communities.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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