Identifying Areas with Disproportionate Local Health Department Services Relative to Opioid Overdose, HIV and Hepatitis C Diagnosis Rates: A Study of Rural Illinois

Colleen McLuckie, Mai T. Pho, Kaitlin Ellis, Livia Navon, Kelly Walblay, Wiley D. Jenkins, Christofer Rodriguez, Marynia A. Kolak, Yen-Tyng Chen, John A. Schneider and Whitney E. Zahnd
Additional contact information
Colleen McLuckie: Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
Mai T. Pho: Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
Kaitlin Ellis: Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Livia Navon: Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
Kelly Walblay: Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
Wiley D. Jenkins: Department of Population Science and Policy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62794, USA
Christofer Rodriguez: Department of Population Science and Policy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62794, USA
Marynia A. Kolak: Center for Spatial Data Science, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Yen-Tyng Chen: Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
John A. Schneider: Department of Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Whitney E. Zahnd: Department of Population Science and Policy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL 62794, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Background: U.S. rural populations have been disproportionately affected by the syndemic of opioid-use disorder (OUD) and the associated increase in overdoses and risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Local health departments (LHDs) can play a critical role in the response to this syndemic. We utilized two geospatial approaches to identify areas of discordance between LHD service availability and disease burden to inform service prioritization in rural settings. Methods: We surveyed rural Illinois LHDs to assess their OUD-related services, and calculated county-level opioid overdose, HIV, and hepatitis C diagnosis rates. Bivariate choropleth maps were created to display LHD service provision relative to disease burden in rural Illinois counties. Results: Most rural LHDs provided limited OUD-related services, although many LHDs provided HIV and HCV testing. Bivariate mapping showed rural counties with limited OUD treatment and HIV services and with corresponding higher outcome/disease rates to be dispersed throughout Illinois. Additionally, rural counties with limited LHD-offered hepatitis C services and high hepatitis C diagnosis rates were geographically concentrated in southern Illinois. Conclusions: Bivariate mapping can enable geographic targeting of resources to address the opioid crisis and related infectious disease by identifying areas with low LHD services relative to high disease burden.

Keywords: opioid use disorder (OUD); persons who inject drugs (PWID); human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); hepatitis C virus (HCV); resource analysis; harm reduction; local health department (LHD); rural health; bivariate mapping; geographic information system (GIS) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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