Substance Use and Misuse in Rural Areas – Resources

The Opioid Crisis and Economic Opportunity: Geographic and Economic Trends
Features a study on the relationship between economic opportunity and opioid use. Explores the correlation between poverty and opioid prescriptions, hospitalizations, and overdose rates. Features several nationwide maps of county-level data.
Author(s): Robin Ghertner, Lincoln Groves
Date: 11/2018
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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HRSA's Home Visiting Program: Supporting Families Impacted by Opioid Use and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Resource for MIECHV Awardees
Details a report for HRSA's Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program grantees on providing support to families impacted opioid use disorder (OUD) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Discusses methods of treatments for newborns with NAS and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for pregnant women with OUD.
Date: 10/2018
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Life in Rural America
Summarizes the results of a survey of rural adults living in the U.S. Includes survey response data and statistics on a variety of topics such as: drug addiction or abuse and opioids; the economy; health conditions; suicide; and more.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2018
Sponsoring organizations: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Federal Legislation to Address the Opioid Crisis: Medicaid Provisions in the SUPPORT Act
Brief details the Medicaid provisions in the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act. Discusses provisions aimed at treating substance use disorder(SUD) in rural areas.
Author(s): MaryBeth Musumeci, Jennifer Tolbert
Date: 10/2018
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Opioid Prescribing Rates by Congressional Districts, United States, 2016
Details a study on opioid prescribing rates by U.S. congressional districts. Compares congressional district rates with state-level rates and highlights rates among in rural areas, specific regions, and by other variables.
Author(s): Lyndsey A. Rolheiser, Jack Cordes, S.V. Subramanian
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1214–1219
Date: 09/2018
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Opioid Crisis: Status of Public Health Emergency Authorities
Examines the effectiveness of public health emergency authorities' response to the opioid crisis. Discusses the different public health emergency authorities selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the activities underway to combat the opioid crisis.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support Research to Address the Opioid Crisis: Final Report
Identifies and describes secondary data sources that can be used in research and evaluations related to the opioid crisis. Discusses common approaches used to link or merge data sources. Describes research needs and challenges related to studying the opioid crisis.
Author(s): Rosanna Smart, Courtney Ann Kase, Amanda Meyer, Bradley D. Stein
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Any Use and Frequent Use of Opioids among Non-elderly Adults in 2015-2016, by Socioeconomic Characteristics
Details a study on the rate of opioid prescribing for adults under the age of 65 from 2015-2016. Presents data regarding poverty status and whether prescription was filled in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or not, among other factors.
Author(s): G. Edward Miller, Asako S. Moriya
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Changing Dynamics of the Drug Overdose Epidemic in the United States from 1979 Through 2016
Features a study on the changes in overdose mortality across the U.S. between 1979-2016. Aims to shed light on the current opioid crisis by placing it within a broader data set incorporating all illicit drug overdose deaths in a longer time frame. Details the specific changes in drug overdose mortality in rural areas.
Author(s): Hawre Jalal, Jeanine M. Buchanich, Mark S. Roberts, et al.
Citation: Science, 361(6408)
Date: 09/2018
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Opioid-Affected Births to Rural Residents
Examines rates of diagnosis of maternal opioid use disorder and infant neonatal abstinence syndrome for rural residents at time of childbirth. Includes statistics for delivery location with breakdowns by rural, urban non-teaching, and urban teaching hospitals.
Author(s): Katy Kozhimannil, Tongtan Chantarat, Alexandra Ecklund, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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