• Am J Prev Med · Feb 2023

    Urban-Rural Disparities in Deaths of Despair: A County-Level Analysis 2004-2016 in the U.S.

    • Jong Hyung Lee, David C Wheeler, Emily B Zimmerman, Anika L Hines, and Derek A Chapman.
    • Center on Society and Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
    • Am J Prev Med. 2023 Feb 1; 64 (2): 149156149-156.

    IntroductionThe purpose of this study is to examine nationwide disparities in drug, alcohol, and suicide mortality; evaluate the association between county-level characteristics and these mortality rates; and illustrate spatial patterns of mortality risk to identify areas with elevated risk.MethodsThe authors applied a Bayesian spatial regression technique to investigate the association between U.S. county-level characteristics and drug, alcohol, and suicide mortality rates for 2004-2016, accounting for spatial correlation that occurs among counties.ResultsMortality risks from drug, alcohol, and suicide were positively associated with the degree of rurality, the proportion of vacant housing units, the population with a disability, the unemployed population, the population with low access to grocery stores, and the population with no health insurance. Conversely, risks were negatively associated with Hispanic population, non-Hispanic Black population, and population with a bachelor's degree or higher.ConclusionsSpatial disparities in drug, alcohol, and suicide mortality exist at the county level across the U.S. social determinants of health; educational attainment, degree of rurality, ethnicity, disability, unemployment, and health insurance status are important factors associated with these mortality rates. A comprehensive strategy that includes downstream interventions providing equitable access to healthcare services and upstream efforts in addressing socioeconomic conditions is warranted to effectively reduce these mortality burdens.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.