Rural suicide rates and availability of health care providers

Bibliographic Data

ID11043625
AuthorsAmy Fiske (0000-0002-8718-1064, University of Southern California, corresponding author), Margaret Gatz (0000-0002-1071-9970, University of Southern California), Eric Hannell (Southern California University for Professional Studies)
Year2005
Volume33
Issue5
Pages537-543
Publication date2005-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-4392 • E-ISSN: 1520-6629
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jcop.20069
OpenAlexW2039650874
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited13

Suicide rates are higher in rural than in urban areas in the United States. One explanation that is frequently offered is scarcity of health and mental health treatment providers in rural areas. The current study tested whether number of providers per capita would explain differences in urban and rural suicide rates within the counties of California, using data from 1993–2001. Results indicate suicide rates were higher in more rural counties, entirely due to higher rural rates among European Americans. Findings also confirmed that there were fewer physicians and mental health care providers per capita in rural areas. Nonetheless, number of providers per capita was not related to suicide rates and thus could not explain the rural–urban differential in suicide rates. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 33: 537–543, 2005

Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Health care · Mental health · Occupational safety and health · Per capita · Poison control · Population · Psychiatry · Rural area · Scarcity · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Suicide rates · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

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