New JRH Articles on Physical Therapy Utilization and More

The National Rural Health Association’s (NRHA’s) Journal of Rural Health (JRH) published articles on the following topics:

• Influence of rurality on self-reported physical therapy utilization among patients with severe chronic back pain.
  • Examines the association of rurality and physical therapy utilization among a nationally representative sample of individuals with severe chronic back pain.
• Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are a significant public health concern characterized by memory decline that, over time, leads to loss of independence.
  • This study reports ADRD diagnosis rates among Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥ 65 years in rural America.
• A new model-based approach for estimating rural hospital markets.
  • To provide a new approach for defining rural hospital markets.
• Cognitive impairment and limited health literacy are associated with poor health outcomes among patients with heart failure residing in rural areas.
  • To determine the relationships among cognitive function, health literacy, and cardiac event-free survival (i.e., heart failure hospitalizations and cardiac mortality) in rural patients with heart failure.
• Examining differences in Rural and Urban Medicare FFS Beneficiaries’ Emergency Department Use Before and During COVID.
  • This brief examines changes in emergency department (ED) use among rural and urban Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2018 – 2022). Using claims data, researchers identified shifts in care-seeking behavior, admission patterns, and outcomes.