Rural Residents With Mental Health Needs Have Fewer Care Visits Than Urban Counterparts

James B Kirby; Samuel H Zuvekas; Amanda E Borsky; Quyen Ngo-Metzger

doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00369

Rural Residents With Mental Health Needs Have Fewer Care Visits Than Urban Counterparts

Health Aff (Millwood). 2019 Dec;38(12):2057-2060. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00369.

Authors

James B Kirby¹, Samuel H Zuvekas², Amanda E Borsky³, Quyen Ngo-Metzger⁴

Affiliations

¹ James B. Kirby ( James. Kirby@ahrq. hhs. gov ) is a senior researcher in the Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in Rockville, Maryland.
² Samuel H. Zuvekas is a senior adviser in the Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ.
³ Amanda E. Borsky is a dissemination and implementation adviser in the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, AHRQ.
⁴ Quyen Ngo-Metzger is a professor of health systems science at the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, in Pasadena, California. At the time this article was written, she was scientific director, US Preventive Services Task Force Program, Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, AHRQ.

PMID: 31794321
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00369

Abstract

Analysis of a nationally representative sample of adults with mental health needs shows that rural residents have fewer ambulatory mental health visits than their urban counterparts do. Even among people already on prescription medications for mental health conditions, rural-urban differences are large.

Keywords: Access to care; Health policy; Insurance status; Mental health services; Mortality; Prescription drugs; Quality of care; Rural health care; mental health.

MeSH terms

Female
Health Services Accessibility / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Male
Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
Psychiatry / statistics & numerical data
Rural Health Services*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Urban Health Services