“Pharmacy deserts,” where there is no retail pharmacy within a 10-mile radius, exist in nearly half (46%) of counties in the United States, a new survey shows. Findings show that patients in counties with higher social vulnerabilities and fewer primary care providers are up to 40% more likely to reside in a region with a pharmacy desert.
The study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute appears in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers used the publicly available TelePharm Map to identify communities located less than 10 miles from the nearest retail pharmacy and then reviewed county data. Counties were noted as having a high pharmacy desert density if the number of pharmacy deserts per 1,000 residents was in the 75th percentile. Social vulnerability index (SVI) and healthcare provider data were obtained from the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Area Health Resource File databases, respectively. The researchers used statistical methods to analyze the relationships between these factors.