Nearly half of U.S. counties have at least one “pharmacy desert” where there is no retail pharmacy within a 10-mile radius, according to a new study published by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and the Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
“As pharmacies close, more Americans are left without easy access to medications, with disproportionate consequences for certain communities. We found that patients in counties with greater social vulnerabilities and fewer primary care providers were up to 40% more likely to reside in a region with a pharmacy desert,” said Timothy Pawlik, MD, senior author of the study and holder of the Urban Meyer III and Shelley Meyer Chair in Cancer Research at OSUCCC — James. Pawlik also serves as surgeon-in-chief at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and as chair of the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines social vulnerability as “the potential negative effects on communities caused by external stresses on human health.”
“These findings highlight how disparities exacerbate a lack of access to basic health care and can lead to many people not taking their prescribed medications and having worse health outcomes, especially for chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension,” Pawlik added.
The results of the study were published today in JAMA network open.
Methods and results
Researchers reviewed data on communities located within 10 miles of the nearest retail pharmacy from the publicly available TelePharm Map. Counties were found to have a high density of deserted pharmacies if the number of deserted pharmacies per 1,000 residents was in the 75th percentile. Social vulnerability index (SVI) and health care provider data were obtained from the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and Area Health Resources File databases, respectively. Researchers used statistical methods to analyze the relationships among these factors.
The study found that nearly 46% of the 3,143 counties had at least one pharmacy desert. Counties with a high density of pharmacy deserts had greater social vulnerability and fewer primary care providers. People in these high-density pharmacy desert areas were more likely to face difficulties accessing medications and health care services.
Collaborators on this study include Giovanni Catalano, MD, Muhammad Muntazir Mehdi Khan, MBBS, and Odysseas P. Chatzipanagiotou, MD.