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Rural Health
Research Gateway

Substance use and treatment

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications on this topic completed by the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

2025

2022

  • Medicaid Expansion and Access to Naloxone in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas
    Journal Article
    Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2022
    This study evaluated the association of Medicaid expansion at the state level on the number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed and the percentage paid by Medicaid. Increasing the percentage of Medicaid-paid naloxone prescriptions improved access in metro areas.

2021

2020

  • Substance Use Among Rural and Urban Youth and Young Adults
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2020
    This study uses national data to examine rural-urban differences in the rates of substance use among youth and young adults. Findings can help inform rural-specific prevention strategies and research targeting rural communities.
  • Measure and Data Element Identification for the HRSA Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Program and the HRSA Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program
    Policy Brief
    Rural Telehealth Research Center
    Date: 04/2020
    This brief details work to identify measures and develop data elements appropriate to tele-behavioral health, create an Excel-based tool, and collect data from grantees in the Health Resources and Services Administration's Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Grant Program and Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program.
  • Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine
    Journal Article
    Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Date: 01/2020
    Only a small percentage of people who need treatment for opioid use disorder receive it, including buprenorphine. This paper shows differences in rates of prescribing buprenorphine and intentions to prescribe buprenorphine between early- and mid-to-late career family physicians, based on a survey of physicians taking a certification examination.
  • Practice Predictors of Buprenorphine Prescribing by Family Physicians
    Journal Article
    Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Date: 01/2020
    Physicians may prescribe buprenorphine if they obtain a waiver, but relatively few family physicians do so. This paper examines the association between practice characteristics and the likelihood that a family physician will prescribe buprenorphine, based on a survey of physicians seeking board certification in family medicine.

2019

2018

2017

  • Barriers Rural Physicians Face Prescribing Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
    Journal Article
    WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 07/2017
    Opioid use disorder is a serious public health problem. Management with buprenorphine is an effective medication-assisted treatment, but 60.1% of rural counties lack a physician with a Drug Enforcement Agency waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. This national study surveyed all rural physicians who have received a waiver in the United States.
  • Use of the Emergency Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Among Women
    Fact Sheet
    North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
    Date: 07/2017
    This study identifies trends among women in rural and urban communities who utilize the emergency department for mental health and substance abuse. The information can be used to help communities provide more relevant, appropriate, and less costly care.
  • Changes in the Supply of Physicians With a DEA DATA Waiver to Prescribe Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
    Policy Brief
    WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 05/2017
    This project mapped the location of physicians with a DEA DATA 2000 waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in July 2012 and April 2016. The number of counties without a waivered physician and the ratio of waivered physicians per 100,000 population is reported by the rural/urban status of the county.
  • Rural Opioid Prevention and Treatment Strategies: The Experience in Four States
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 04/2017
    Little is known about what states with large rural populations are doing to combat opioid use disorders (OUD) in rural communities. This qualitative study identified rural challenges to the provision of OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services and explored promising strategies to tackle the opioid crisis in rural communities.

2016

  • Rural Opioid Abuse: Prevalence and User Characteristics
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2016
    Opioid abuse is the fastest growing substance abuse problem in the nation and the primary cause of unintentional drug overdose deaths. This study examined the rural-urban prevalence of non-medical use of pain relievers and heroin in the past year and the socioeconomic characteristics associated with their use and other risky behavior.

2015

2012

2009

  • Availability, Characteristics, and Role of Detoxification Services in Rural Areas
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 12/2009
    Few detox providers (n=235) serve rural America; 82% of rural residents live in a county without a detox provider. More than half of all rural detox providers serve patients across a 100-mile radius, making travel distances a barrier to outpatient care. Referral options to substance abuse treatment are limited, especially in isolated rural areas.
  • Few and Far Away: Detoxification Services in Rural Areas (Research & Policy Brief)
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 12/2009
    This policy brief finds that few rural detox providers exist; 82% of rural residents live in a county without a detox provider. More than half of all rural detox providers serve a 100-mile radius. Travel distances are a barrier to outpatient detox models. Referral options to substance abuse treatment are limited, especially in isolated rural areas.

2008

2007

2006

  • Problem Drinking: Rural and Urban Trends in America, 1995/1997 to 2003
    Journal Article
    WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 03/2006
    Assesses the prevalence of, and recent trends in, alcohol use among adults 18 years and older in rural areas of the United States. The paper finds that heavy drinking was highest and increasing in urban areas, but that binge drinking was greater in rural areas. It recommends tailoring interventions specifically to meet the needs of rural residents.
  • Prevalence and Trends in Smoking: A National Rural Study
    Journal Article
    WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 2006
    Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the prevalence of smoking between 1994-1996 and 2000-2001 did not change substantially for the United States as a whole. The prevalence of smoking for rural residents decreased by more than 2 percent in six states. However, it increased by 2 percent or more in ten states.
  • PTSD and Substance Use: Unrecognized Sequelae of Bioterrorism in Primary Care Providers
    Journal Article
    FORHP-funded Individual Grantees
    Date: 2006
    Study looks at rural primary care providers' knowledge of likely mental disorders, their risk factors, and preferred treatment options following a public health emergency.
  • Rural and Frontier Mental and Behavioral Health Care: Barriers, Effective Policy Strategies, Best Practices
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 2006
    This report discusses barriers to mental and behavioral health service delivery in rural America. It includes model programs and model policy strategies for rural mental and behavioral healthcare delivery and discusses the roles that telehealth and that the State Offices of Rural Health should play in service delivery.

2003