Almost half of U.S. counties contain at least one ‘pharmacy desert,’ meaning that there is no retail pharmacy within a 10-mile radius, as highlighted in a recent study from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC — James).
Almost half of U.S. counties contain at least one ‘pharmacy desert,’ meaning that there is no retail pharmacy within a 10-mile radius, as highlighted in a recent study from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC — James).
“With the closure of pharmacies, many Americans find themselves unable to easily access their medications, which disproportionately affects particular communities. Our research indicates that individuals living in counties with higher social vulnerabilities and fewer primary care providers are up to 40% more likely to be in a pharmacy desert,” explained Timothy Pawlik, MD, the study’s lead author and holder of the Urban Meyer III and Shelley Meyer Chair for Cancer Research at OSUCCC — James. Pawlik also holds the roles of surgeon-in-chief at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and chair of the Department of Surgery at the Ohio State College of Medicine.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) characterizes social vulnerability as “potential negative impacts on communities resulting from external pressures on human health.”
“These results emphasize how inequalities exacerbate the lack of access to essential healthcare, leading many individuals to skip their prescribed medications and resulting in poorer health, particularly for chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension,” Pawlik further noted.
The findings were released today in JAMA Network Open.
Methods and Results
The researchers examined data about communities situated fewer than 10 miles from a retail pharmacy using the publicly accessible TelePharm Map. Counties were classified as having a high density of pharmacy deserts if the rate of pharmacy deserts per 1,000 residents was in the top 25%. Data related to social vulnerability index (SVI) and healthcare providers were sourced from the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Area Health Resource File databases. Statistical methods were applied to explore the relationships between these variables.
The investigation revealed that nearly 46% of the 3,143 counties studied had at least one pharmacy desert. Areas with a high concentration of pharmacy deserts also exhibited increased social vulnerability and a lower number of primary care providers. Residents in these regions were more likely to encounter challenges in obtaining medications and healthcare services.
Key collaborators on this research included Giovanni Catalano, MD, Muhammad Muntazir Mehdi Khan, MBBS, and Odysseas P. Chatzipanagiotou, MD.
