Pharmacy shortages disproportionately affect vulnerable communities across the United States

Nearly half of counties in the United States have at least one “pharmacy desert,” where there is no retail pharmacy within a 10-mile radius, according to a recent study published by researchers from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James).

As pharmacies close, more Americans are left without straightforward access to medications, with disproportionate consequences for some communities. We found that patients in counties with higher social vulnerability and fewer primary care physicians were as much as 40% more likely to live in a pharmacy desert.

Timothy Pawlik, MD, PhD, senior author of the study and holder of the Urban Meyer III and Shelley Meyer Chair for Cancer Research at the OSUCCC–James

Pawlik also serves as Chief Surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Chair of the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State College of Medicine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines social vulnerability as “the potential for adverse outcomes in a community caused by external human health burdens.”

“These results underscore how disparities are exacerbated by lack of access to primary care and how this can lead to many people not taking their prescribed medications and having poorer health outcomes, especially for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension,” Pawlik added.

The research results were published today in JAMA network open.

Methods and Results

The researchers reviewed data for communities located less than 10 miles from the nearest retail pharmacy from the publicly available TelePharm map. Counties were considered to have a high density of pharmacy deserts if the number of pharmacy deserts per 1,000 residents was in the 75th percentile. Data on the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and health care providers were obtained from the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and Area Health Resource File databases, respectively. The researchers used statistical methods to analyze the relationships between these factors.

The study found that nearly 46% of the 3,143 counties had at least one pharmacy desert. Counties with high pharmacy desert densities had greater social vulnerability and fewer primary care providers. People in these areas with high pharmacy desert densities were more likely to have difficulty accessing medications and health care services.

Collaborators on this study include: Giovanni Catalano, M.D., Muhammad Muntazir Mehdi Khan, M.D., and Odysseas P. Chatzipanagiotou, M.D., Ph.D.