Skip to main content
The British Journal of General Practice logoLink to The British Journal of General Practice
. 2001 Jun;51(467):486–491.

Rural deprivation: reflecting reality.

J C Farmer 1, A G Baird 1, L Iversen 1
PMCID: PMC1314032  PMID: 11407056

Abstract

In the United Kingdom (UK) there is currently an upsurge of interest in rural affairs. This brings the potential to address some of the gaps in rural health care research. The appropriate description and measurement of rural deprivation is one area consistently identified by UK rural practitioners and policymakers as urgently requiring evidence. Appropriate identification and measurement of deprivation within a rural context is important so that primary care resources can be targeted at those with greatest need. It is believed that current measures of deprivation are inappropriate for rural settings, but relationships between life circumstances and health are only beginning to be addressed by empirical research. In this paper we propose an approach to researching rural deprivation. It is important to be clear about definitions of rurality and deprivation and about the purpose of measurement. The requirement to test a range of indicators for their association with health status and health care need in rural areas and to gather more locally relevant data within primary care settings is highlighted. The relevance, for primary care, of exploring rural deprivation is suggested, along with ideas about a way forward in generating knowledge that can help to characterise and measure rural deprivation in a more sensitive manner.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (75.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baird A. G., Donnelly C. M., Miscampell N. T., Wemyss H. D. Centralisation of cancer services in rural areas has disadvantages. BMJ. 2000 Mar 11;320(7236):717–717. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ben-Shlomo Y., White I., McKeigue P. M. Prediction of general practice workload from census based social deprivation scores. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1992 Oct;46(5):532–536. doi: 10.1136/jech.46.5.532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Caan W. Most British research and development in primary care arises outside rural areas. BMJ. 1997 Jun 21;314(7097):1831–1831. doi: 10.1136/bmj.314.7097.1831. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Campbell N. C., Elliott A. M., Sharp L., Ritchie L. D., Cassidy J., Little J. Rural factors and survival from cancer: analysis of Scottish cancer registrations. Br J Cancer. 2000 Jun;82(11):1863–1866. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.1999.1079. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Carlisle R., Johnstone S. The relationship between census-derived socio-economic variables and general practice consultation rates in three town centre practices. Br J Gen Pract. 1998 Oct;48(435):1675–1678. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Carr-Hill R. A., Sheldon T. Designing a deprivation payment for general practitioners: the UPA(8) wonderland. BMJ. 1991 Feb 16;302(6773):393–396. doi: 10.1136/bmj.302.6773.393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Clark G. M. Health and poverty in rural Scotland. Health Bull (Edinb) 1997 Sep;55(5):299–304. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cox J. Poverty in rural areas. BMJ. 1998 Mar 7;316(7133):722–722. doi: 10.1136/bmj.316.7133.722. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cox J. Rural general practice: a personal view of current key issues. Health Bull (Edinb) 1997 Sep;55(5):309–315. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dua J. K. Level of occupational stress in male and female rural general practitioners. Aust J Rural Health. 1997 May;5(2):97–102. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1584.1997.tb00247.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fearn R. M. Norfolk general practice: a comparison of rural and urban doctors. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1988 Jun;38(311):270–273. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hays R. B., Craig M. L., Wise A. L., Nichols A., Mahoney M. D., Adkins P. B., Sheehan M., Siskind V. A sampling framework for rural and remote doctors. Aust J Public Health. 1994 Sep;18(3):273–276. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.1994.tb00244.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jarman B. Identification of underprivileged areas. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 May 28;286(6379):1705–1709. doi: 10.1136/bmj.286.6379.1705. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Senior M., Williams H., Higgs G. Urban-rural mortality differentials: controlling for material deprivation. Soc Sci Med. 2000 Jul;51(2):289–305. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00454-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smeeth L., Heath I. Tackling health inequalities in primary care. BMJ. 1999 Apr 17;318(7190):1020–1021. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Stevenson I. N. Country practice. Rural Norfolk: GP as a community property. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Feb 26;286(6366):691–692. doi: 10.1136/bmj.286.6366.691. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Weinert C., Boik R. J. MSU Rurality Index: development and evaluation. Montana State University. Res Nurs Health. 1995 Oct;18(5):453–464. doi: 10.1002/nur.4770180510. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of General Practice are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES