Date of Award

Spring 4-12-2023

Embargo Period

4-25-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

Department

Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Mary Dooley

Second Advisor

Daniel Brinton

Third Advisor

Alicia Primus

Abstract

Approximately 90-95% of the more than 37 million American adults who are living with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Additionally, those living in rural areas face poor health outcomes related to chronic diseases such as diabetes. The impact of factors related to social determinants of health such as the role of rurality and social vulnerability were described by examining county diabetes related Emergency Department (ED) visit rates for adults aged 18-25 living in North Carolina. No difference in county level diabetes related ED visits were observed between rural counties vs. nonrural counties in the state. However, patterns did emerge in county level diabetes related ED visit rates. Higher ED visit rates were observed in counties having a social vulnerability index (SVI) of 90% or greater, indicating high social vulnerability. Therefore, future research should focus on factors contributing to higher ED visit rates for this study population living high SVI counties which could lead to policy development and targeted health programming.

Rights

Copyright is held by the author. All rights reserved.

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