Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
Background: Citizens of Ohio live in a diverse range of settings, such as urban, metropolitan, and rural counties. Populations living in urban settings may live longer and have more access to healthcare providers (Primary Care and Mental Health). Due to the improved access of care, populations in the urban settings may have less hospital visits and overall, better health compared to rural counties within Ohio. Objective: The objective of this investigation was to examine the urban and rural counties in the state for differences in years of potential life lost, primary care physician ratio, preventable hospitalization stays, and mental health provider ratio. Methods: This is a data analysis from a retrospective cohort of Ohio citizens comparing outcomes between urban and rural counties in the years 2016 and 2022. The counties in Ohio were divided into two groups based on population size, with the largest population sized counties labeled as urban and the smallest as rural. The study used unpaired t-tests, paired t-tests, spearman correlation, and stepwise linear regression. Results: Of the total 88 counties, the difference in health outcomes between urban and rural counties in Ohio was not significant (t = .223, p = .445). In both urban (t = -8.225, p < .001) and rural (t = - 7.965, p <.001) counties, the years of potential life lost in 2022 were significantly increased from YPLL lost in 2016. In Ohio’s population as of 2022, there were weak but statistically significant correlations between preventable hospitalizations and YPLL (r = .428, p <.001) and between mental health provider ratio and YPLL (r = -.319, p = 0.002). There was no significance between PCP ration and YPLL (r = .091, p=.399).
Repository Citation
Stokes, I., & Sarhan, O. (2024). Factors Affecting Health Outcomes in Ohio’s Most Populated Rural and Urban Counties. Wright State University. Dayton, Ohio.
