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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Substance use and misuse

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Rural Opioid Support Services Program
Study examining the impacts of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on a rural, nonprofit opioid use disorder (OUD) system support service program located in eastern Kentucky. Describes findings from interviews conducted in early fall 2020 discussing changes to daily life, service access and provision, and financial impacts.
Author(s): Jayme E. Walters, Aubrey E. Jones, Aaron R. Brown, Dorothy Wallis
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(8), 11164
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Opioid-Related Outcomes Among Individuals with Co-Occurring Behavioral Health Conditions
Provides an overview of a quality measurement framework to improve the prevention and monitoring of opioid-related overdoses and mortality among individuals with co-occurring behavioral health conditions. Identifies existing measures, measure concepts, and recommendations to serve as a starting point for quality measurement. Highlights three essential domains for measurement: equitable access, clinical interventions, and integrated and comprehensive care for concurrent behavioral health conditions.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum
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Availability of Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas
Explores the availability of substance use disorder treatment facilities and providers nationwide across ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) categorized by rurality and racial and ethnic composition. Provides data on the straight-line distance to the nearest opioid treatment facility that offers methadone, nearest substance use disorder treatment facility that does not offer methadone, and closest buprenorphine provider by rurality in minoritized and non-minoritized ZCTA.
Author(s): Sophia N. D. Negaro, Gabriel A. Benavidez, Christina M. Andrews, et al.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Physician Response to COVID-19–Driven Telehealth Flexibility for Opioid Use Disorder
Presents survey responses of physicians who provide Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment on telehealth flexibilities driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their OUD telehealth policy preferences. Notes rural implications of access equity issues and policy changes.
Author(s): Tamara Beetham, David A. Fiellin, Susan H. Busch
Citation: The American Journal of Managed Care, 28(9)
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Evaluating Disparities in Traffic Fatalities by Race, Ethnicity, and Income
Describes disparities in traffic safety among different race-ethnicity groups and income rates, based on fatal police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes from 2014-2018 on public roadways. Explores the effect of risky behaviors on fatalities including alcohol use, restraint use, handheld electronic device use, and speeding. Features statistics including distribution of traffic fatalities by race-ethnicity in 2018, with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Author(s): Donna Glassbrenner, Gabrielle Herbert, Leah Reish, Caitlin Webb, Tonja Lindsey
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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America's Rural Roads: Beautiful and Deadly
Examines rural road fatal crashes using data for years 2016-2020. Describes where people crash on rural roads, who crashes, and what risky behaviors may contribute to crashes. Includes statistics on road fatalities, proportions of rural and urban population compared with proportions of road fatalities, fatalities per vehicle miles traveled, crash type and vehicle type, sex, race and ethnicity, age, alcohol use, drug involvement, and speeding, with breakdowns by rural or urban location. Includes state-level statistics on fatalities by state maximum speed limit.
Author(s): Paula Raymond
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Governors Highway Safety Association, State Farm
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Broadband Internet Subscription Rates and Opioid Prescribing via Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Explores the effect of the DEA's temporary permission for providers to prescribe opioids via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. Discusses the effect this permission had on rural areas and in counties with low and high rates of broadband access.
Author(s): Douglas R. Oyler, Svetla Slavova, Patricia R. Freeman, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 900-907
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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The Association of Crash Response Times and Deaths at the Crash Scene: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using the 2019 National Emergency Medical Service Information System
Compares EMS response times with rates of crash scene deaths by rural and urban region and by rush and non-rush hour periods. Breaks down the demographic characteristics of the people involved in the crash, such as age, sex, substances involved, and injuries, as well as mortality and rurality, among other measures.
Author(s): Oluwaseun J. Adeyemi, Rajib Paul, Charles DiMaggio, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 1011-1024
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Interventions for Increasing Digital Equity and Access (IDEA) Among Rural Patients Who Smoke: Study Protocol for a Pragmatic Randomized Pilot Trial
Examines digital access and literacy interventions that facilitate online evidence-based smoking cessation treatment (EBCT) for rural adults. Provides methodology and components of 3 different EBCT interventions aimed at participants in a Midwestern community-based health system. Includes feedback from a rural community advisory committee (CAC) on the study protocol.
Author(s): Christi Patten, Tabetha Brockman, Sydney Kelpin, et al.
Citation: Contemporary Clinical Trials, 119, 106838
Date: 08/2022
Type: Document
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Coroner/Medical Examiner Services in Pennsylvania
Provides information about Pennsylvania coroner/medical examiners (C/MEs), including office caseloads, funding, facilities, forensic capacity, vehicles and equipment, and staffing and training resources. Assesses how the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic affected county C/ME offices in urban and rural areas. Features statistics including deaths from COVID-19 and drug overdose from 2015-2021, with breakdowns by urban and rural counties.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Harry D. Holt, Ramona Stone, Christina VandePol
Date: 08/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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