 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Stephanie L Sanford-Colby, MPH1, Sally Zierler, DrPh2, Susan F McNamara, MSCJ1, and Grace E Macalino, PhD3. (1) Brown University, 169 Angell St., Box GS-2, Providence, RI 02912, 401-863-9824, Stephanie_Sanford@Brown.edu, (2) Dept. of Community Health, Brown University Schools of Medicine, Box G-A4, Providence, RI 02912, (3) Brown University/The Miriam Hospital, 169 Angell St., Box GS-2, Providence, RI 02912
Background: Within a study evaluating racial/ethnic discrimination in compliance with over-the-counter syringe laws, we mapped location of pharmacies according to block-group racial/ethnic composition to learn if distance access varied.
Methods: A list of all the pharmacies in the state of RI and their street addresses was obtained from the RI Department of Health. Census data with racial/ethnic information on the block group (BG) level was downloaded from the US Government’s Census web page. Data representing all the roads in RI were obtained from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI).
A distance weighted average from BG centroid to nearest pharmacy was calculated for White, Hispanic, and Black block-groups. Analyses were stratified by urban and rural.
Results: Of 821 BGs in RI, 697 are urban (>500 people/sq. mile). Average distance to the nearest pharmacy for urban White, Black, and Hispanic was 0.75, 0.48, and 0.45 miles, respectively. Corresponding average distance for rural White, Black, and Hispanic BGs was 3.30, 2.89, and 2.95 miles, respectively.
Conclusion: Average distance to nearest pharmacy was similar across block-groups, regardless of racial/ethnic composition. Thus, distance to pharmacy does not confound differences in racial/ethnic experiences in obtaining syringes over-the-counter.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Syringe Sources, Access and Services
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.