Lead author Dr. Timothy Pawlik, also a surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, notes that this lack of access to pharmaceuticals and medical devices can lead to patients not taking their medications regularly, impairing treatment adherence and ultimately worsening health outcomes in the general population.
The study examines data from communities located within 20 km of the nearest pharmacy and concludes that:
-
46% of counties have at least one pharmaceutical desert;
- States with high drug desert densities are also those characterized by greater social vulnerability and fewer primary health care professionals, i.e. more medical deserts; social vulnerability being defined (by the CDC) as “negative effects caused by external stresses on human health.”
- People living in these pharmaceutical desert areas are more likely to have difficulty accessing health services and products.
In the United States, in some more rural areas, pharmacies are closing: “And as pharmacies close, more healthcare consumers are left without access to medicines, with disproportionate impacts on some communities. Patients in counties with higher social vulnerabilities and fewer primary healthcare professionals were up to 40% more likely to live in a pharmacy desert area.”
