The study, conducted by New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, used the Health Resources and Services Administration’s area health resources data on U.S. physician workforce distribution and the 2020 U.S. Census to assess county-level access to gastroenterologists.
The study determined that more than two-thirds of 3,149 counties in the U.S. had no gastroenterologist, which leaves about 49 million people without a local option for care, while another 17% of counties had fewer than five gastroenterologists.
About 80% of counties lacking a gastroenterologist were in non-metropolitan areas with higher populations of older adults. Adults in these areas also, on average, had lower mean incomes, fewer individuals with insurance and a higher proportion of white residents than counties with a gastroenterologist.
The states with the lowest proportions of gastroenterologists per 100,000 people are Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota, while states with the most include Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
“Gastroenterologists in non-metropolitan counties were more likely to be older, with more than two-thirds of them older than age 55 and nearly half of those older than 65 years of age,” Leah Yao, MD, a co-author of the study and a clinical associate in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and resident in internal medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, wrote. “As these gastroenterologists retire, we will likely see worsening access in less populated areas exacerbating existing access disparities.”
