Rural and Underserved Health Research Center

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications from this Rural Health Research Center.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

2024

Cervical Cancer Screening Rates Among Rural and Urban Females, From 2019 to 2022
Journal Article
Date: 06/2024
This study examines the receipt of a Papanicolaou test in the past year among U.S. females overall and females residing in rural and urban areas in 2019, 2020, and 2022, using the Health Information National Trends Survey.
Suicide Rates and Risks Across U.S. Industries: A 29-Year Population-Based Survey
Journal Article
Date: 01/2024
Combining 29 years of U.S. suicide data using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)-Mortality Linked data from 1986 through 2014, with mortality follow-up through 2015, this study estimates suicide risks across industries in the U.S. working population.

2023

Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Family Medicine Practices
Journal Article
Date: 10/2023
This study evaluated physician, practice, and community characteristics as health care system elements to determine the ability of a primary care practice to address social determinants of health.
Colorectal Cancer Screening in Rural and Urban Primary Care Practices Amid Implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act
Journal Article
Date: 06/2023
This study examined whether colorectal cancer screening rates improved among rural and urban primary care practices amid implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. Researchers tested for rural/urban differences and changes in screening rates between 2016 and 2020.
Psychological Distress Is More Common in Some Occupations and Increases With Job Tenure: A Thirty-Seven Year Panel Study in the United States
Journal Article
Date: 03/2023
This study used 1981–2017 data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (Kessler K6) to identify occupations with low and high risks of mental health problems in the United States.

2022

Medicaid Expansion and Access to Naloxone in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas
Journal Article
Date: 11/2022
This study evaluated the association of Medicaid expansion at the state level on the number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed and the percentage paid by Medicaid. Increasing the percentage of Medicaid-paid naloxone prescriptions improved access in metro areas.
Estimating Mortality From Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Pneumoconiosis Using Binary Regressions for Spatially Sparse Data
Journal Article
Date: 02/2022
This study estimates mortality from coal workers' pneumoconiosis and other pneumoconioses among Medicare beneficiaries using the 5% Medicare Limited Claims Data Set, 2011-2014.

2021

Suicide Mortality Rates in Farm-Related Occupations and the Agriculture Industry in the United States
Journal Article
Date: 09/2021
This article examines suicide mortality among agricultural workers comparing rural and urban residents using pooled data from the Mortality‐Linked National Health Interview Survey, 1986–2014.

2020

The Declining Scope of Practice of Family Physicians Is Limited to Urban Areas
Journal Article
Date: 11/2020
The scope of practice for family medicine physicians has decreased in recent years. Using survey data, researchers compared family medicine physicians' scope of practice scores based on rural-urban status and other variables. Researchers found statistically significant decreases in scope of practice scores in urban settings.
Mortality Among Workers Employed in the Mining Industry in the United States: A 29‐Year Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey—Linked Mortality File, 1986‐2014
Journal Article
Date: 07/2020
Working in the mining industry increases the risk of chronic diseases and mortality. We investigated overall and cause‐specific mortality rates among workers employed in the mining sector in the U.S.
Estimating the Prevalence and Spatial Clusters of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Cases Using Medicare Claims Data, 2011‐2014
Journal Article
Date: 03/2020
Workers in the coal mining sector are at increased risk of respiratory diseases, including coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP). We investigated the prevalence of CWP and its association with sociodemographic factors among Medicare beneficiaries. We found evidence of significant spatial clustering of CWP in the states and population analyzed.
Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine
Journal Article
Date: 01/2020
Only a small percentage of people who need treatment for opioid use disorder receive it, including buprenorphine. This paper shows differences in rates of prescribing buprenorphine and intentions to prescribe buprenorphine between early- and mid-to-late career family physicians, based on a survey of physicians taking a certification examination.
Practice Predictors of Buprenorphine Prescribing by Family Physicians
Journal Article
Date: 01/2020
Physicians may prescribe buprenorphine if they obtain a waiver, but relatively few family physicians do so. This paper examines the association between practice characteristics and the likelihood that a family physician will prescribe buprenorphine, based on a survey of physicians seeking board certification in family medicine.

2019

The Prevalence of Chronic Diseases Among Current and Ex-Miners in the United States
Journal Article
Date: 12/2019
This paper compares the prevalence and odds of chronic diseases among ex-miners and current miners, adjusting for certain variables that might influence health outcomes. The analysis found that the prevalence of chronic disease is significantly higher among ex-miners.
Hospital Closures and Short-Run Change in Ambulance Call Times
Journal Article
Date: 11/2019
Hospital closures affect the availability of emergency department services. This paper examines changes in ambulance ride times in areas with hospital closures compared to those in similar areas without hospital closures and separately analyzes changes in ambulance ride times between urban and rural areas and among Medicare-eligible patients.
Declining Endoscopic Care by Family Physicians in Both Rural and Urban Areas
Journal Article
Date: 07/2019
This paper explores the decline in the percentage of family physicians providing endoscopic services overall and in urban and rural areas. This has implications on the availability of colonoscopies, endoscopies, and flexible sigmoidoscopies in areas that lack specialists who perform such services.