Adapting the Index of Relative Rurality (IRR) to Estimate Rurality at the ZIP Code Level: A Rural Classification System in Health Services Research

• Published in: The Journal of rural health Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 219 - 227
• Main Authors: Inagami, Sanae, Gao, Shasha, Karimi, Hassan, Shendge, Martine M., Probst, Janice C., Stone, Roslyn A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Journal of Rural Health 01.03.2016; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Agricultural economics; Agricultural research; Agriculture departments; Agronomy; Censuses; Classification; Classification systems; Commuting; Data analysis; Economic research; Federal agencies; geography; Government agencies; Health care; Health care policy; Health problems; Health services; health services research; Health Services Research - methods; Humans; index of relative rurality; Medical research; observational data; Physicians; Populations; Postal codes; Primary care; Reproducibility of Results; Residents; Rural areas; rural classification; Rural communities; Rural Health Services - classification; Rural populations; Rurality; Services; Small-Area Analysis; Social services delivery; United States; Veterans; United States; United States > US; Pittsburgh Pennsylvania; USA; index of relative rurality; health services research; rural classification; observational data; geography

BACKGROUND: Accurate analysis of health problems facing rural residents depends on how rurality is defined. Health services research relies frequently on the rural urban commuting area (RUCA) codes to estimate rurality at the small area level. We modified the county‐level Index of Relative Rurality...