02008nam a22001577a 4500 518763 518763 211102b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Yong, T.C. ,Kim, S. and Shoff, C. 30051 Income inequality and opioid prescribing rates: Exploring rural/urban differences in pathways via residential stability and social isolation Rural Sociology 86(1), Mar, 2021: p.26-49 While opioid prescribing rates have drawn researchers' atten- tion, little is known about the mechanisms through which income inequal- ity affects opioid prescribing rates and even less focuses on whether there is a rural/urban difference in mediating pathways. Applying mediation analysis techniques to a unique ZIP code level dataset from several sources maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, we explicitly examine two mechanisms through residential stability and social isolation by rural/urban status and find that (1) income inequality is not directly related to opioid prescribing rates, but it exerts its influence on opioid prescribing via poor residential stability and elevated social isolation; (2) social isolation accounts for two-thirds of the mediating effect of income inequality on opioid prescribing rates among urban ZIP codes, but the proportion halves among rural ZIP codes; (3) residential stability plays a larger role in understanding how income inequality matters in rural than in urban ZIP codes; and (4) ben- eficiary characteristics only matter in urban ZIP codes. These findings offer nuanced insight into how income inequality affects opioid prescribing rates and suggests that the determinants of opioid prescribing rates vary by rural/ urban status. Future research may benefit from identifying place-specific fac-tors for opioid prescribing rates. Reproduced Income inequality, Opioid prescribing rates 30052 Rural Sociology INCOME DISTRIBUTION AR 0 0 ddc 0 0 392829 IIPA IIPA 2021-11-02 86(1), Mar, 2021: p.26-49 AR125859 2021-11-02 AR