Defining rural spaces within pharmacy practice research: Current practice and implications

Abstract

The literature suggests that community pharmacies are a critical buffer to poor health for rural spaces, which are disproportionately impacted by a lack of facilities, providers, and resources. Yet, the actual impact is hard to measure because location is not often considered in assessments of community pharmacy practice. We explored the definitions applied to rural spaces in community pharmacy practice-based research studies that explicitly discuss rural pharmacy practice in 2 U.S. based pharmacy practice research publications. Across both journals, we identified 10 articles that used 8 different definitions of "rural" including both a variety of federal designations and idiosyncratic definitions developed just for that research. A consensus definition in rural community pharmacy practice research could make comparison across studies possible, help to build the evidence base for rurally focused interventions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes in this setting.