Health disparities research in rural populations is based on several common taxonomies identified by geography and population density. However, little is known about the implications of different rurality definitions on public health outcomes. To help illuminate the meaning of different rural designations often used in research, service delivery, or policy reports, this study will (1) review the different definitions of rurality and their purposes; (2) identify the overlap of various rural designations in an eight-county Brazos Valley region in Central Texas; (3) describe participant characteristic profiles based on distances traveled to obtain healthcare services; and (4) examine common profile characteristics associated with each designation. Data were analyzed from a random sample from 1,958 Texas adults participating in a community assessment. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify natural groupings of individuals based on distance traveled to obtain three healthcare services: medical care, dental care, and prescription medication pick-up. Significant variation in cluster representation and resident characteristics was observed by rural designation. Given widely used taxonomies for designating areas as rural (or provider shortage) in health-related research, this study highlights differences that could influence research results and subsequent program and policy development based on rural designation.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/960157 | DOI Listing |
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.
Importance: More than 4 million Medicare beneficiaries have enrolled in dual-eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), and coordination-only D-SNPs are common. Little is known about the impact of coordination-only D-SNPs on Medicaid-covered services and spending, including long-term services and supports, which are financed primarily by Medicaid.
Objective: To evaluate changes in Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) spending before and after new enrollment in coordination-only D-SNPs vs new enrollment in non-D-SNP Medicare Advantage (MA) plans among community-living beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicare and North Carolina Medicaid.
JAMA Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
Importance: Depressive symptoms are associated with cognitive decline in older individuals. Uncertainty about underlying mechanisms hampers diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. This large-scale study aimed to elucidate the association between depressive symptoms and amyloid pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Assist Reprod Genet
January 2025
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Purpose: While the literature has addressed the implementation of oncofertility care at developed institutions, minimal advice exists for those seeking to build oncofertility programs in limited resource settings (LRS). Our research offers a promising conversation on establishing oncofertility care in such settings from the perspective of a practitioner working to establish care in Latin America. We propose practices that have the potential to significantly improve access to and quality of care in these challenging settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRes Child Adolesc Psychopathol
January 2025
Department of Psychology, University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD, USA.
Youth with complex health needs (CHNs; e.g., requiring daily assistance or equipment for care) and their parents face heightened vulnerabilities during natural disasters, potentially leading to poorer mental health outcomes compared to those without CHNs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Infect Dis
January 2025
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Background: Aging-related comorbidities are more common in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compared to people without HIV. The gut microbiome may play a role in healthy aging; however, this relationship remains unexplored in the context of HIV.
Methods: 16S rRNA gene sequencing was conducted on stool from 1409 women (69% with HIV; 2304 samples) and 990 men (54% with HIV; 1008 samples) in the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study.
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