Sign in Subscribe
Health care industry

Rural Measurements Affect Estimates of Hospitalization Rates for Depression and Substance Use Disorders

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have conducted a study examining the impact of different rural measurements on estimates of hospitalization rates for depression and substance use disorders (SUD). The study used data from the 2018 State Inpatient Database for five states, including Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland, Washington, and Florida, to analyze the effects of different rural measurements on hospitalization rates and patient characteristics.

The researchers found that the choice of rural measurement significantly affects the estimates of hospitalization rates for depression and SUD. The percentage of hospitalizations for depression or SUD differed significantly based on the rural measurement used, ranging from 3.2-8.1% for depression and 5.0-11.6% for SUD. The study also found that the patient characteristics of those hospitalized, such as race and insurance type, varied by rural measurement for depression and SUD hospitalizations.

Key Takeaways:

  • The choice of rural measurement significantly affects estimates of hospitalization rates for depression and SUD, with differences in percentage of hospitalizations ranging from 3.2-8.1% for depression and 5.0-11.6% for SUD.
  • Patient characteristics, such as race and insurance type, vary by rural measurement for depression and SUD hospitalizations.
  • Spearman's correlations were higher for hospitalizations for SUD than for depression, ranging from r = 0.61 (RUCC and RUCA) to r = 0.99 (CBSA and URCategory4).
  • The research concluded that stakeholders should be aware of the impact of rural measurement choice on policy decisions and resource allocation for programs intended to improve care in rural areas.
  • The study used data from the 2018 State Inpatient Database for five states, including Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland, Washington, and Florida.
  • The additional authors for this research include Justin Blackburn, Marion Greene, Olena Mazurenko, Lindsey Sanner, and Nir Menachemi.

Statistics:

  • 152,771 hospitalizations for depression
  • 43,760 hospitalizations for SUD
  • Spearman's correlations ranged from r = 0.61 (RUCC and RUCA) to r = 0.99 (CBSA and URCategory4)
  • Percentage of hospitalizations for depression or SUD differed significantly based on rural measurement

Sources:

  • Effects of using different rural measurements on estimates of hospitalizations for depression and substance use. BMC Health Services Research, 2025, 25(1):1-9.
  • Health & Medicine Week. July 4, 2025; p 1952.

Read more