摘要：The term “rural” suggests many things to many people, such as agricultural landscapes, isolation, small towns, and low population density. However, defining “rural” for health policy and research purposes requires researchers and policy analysts to specify which aspects of rurality are most relevant to the topic at hand and then select an appropriate definition. Rural and urban taxonomies often do not discuss important demographic, cultural, and economic differences across rural places—differences that have major implications for policy and research. Factors such as geographic scale and region also must be considered. Several useful rural taxonomies are discussed and compared in this article. Careful attention to the definition of “rural” is required for effectively targeting policy and research aimed at improving the health of rural Americans. THE UNITED STATES HAS evolved from a rural agricultural society to a society dominated by its urban population. Depending on which definition is used, roughly 20% of the US population resides within rural areas. Approximately three fourths of the nation’s counties are rural, as is 75% of its landmass. While the rural population is in the minority, it is the size of France’s total (rural and urban) population. As important as the rural population and its resources are to the nation, there is considerable confusion as to exactly what rural means and where rural populations reside. We will discuss defining rural and why it is important to do so in the context of health care policy and research.
