Summary of rurality definitions
| Publication | Country | Definition of rurality |
|---|---|---|
| Hilsden et al., 2007 (19) | Canada | Canadian census |
| Micieli et al., 2015 (20) | Canada | Population cut-off; Local Health Integration Network population < 600 000 |
| Roos, 1983 (21) | Canada | All areas outside of the only 2 metropolitan areas in the province of Manitoba |
| Rourke, 1998 (22) | Canada | Community population < 2000; < 100 acute care beds |
| Schroeder et al., 2020 (23) | Canada | Statistics Canada: community outside of a commuting area of an urban centre with > 10 000 |
| Bruening and Maddern, 1998 (24) | Australia | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| O’Sullivan et al., 2017 (25) | Australia | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Shanmugakumar et al., 2017 (26) | Australia | Western Australian Health Department rural and remote designated hospitals |
| Wong and Petchell, 2004 (17) | Australia | New South Wales Department of Health hospital designation |
| Ahmed et al., 2012 (27) | United States | Population cut-off < 150 000 |
| Baldwin et al., 1999 (28) | United States | Washington State Office Rural Health |
| Breon et al., 2003 (29) | United States | Population cut-off < 25 000 |
| Burkholder and Cofer, 2007 (30) | United States | Population cut-off < 25 000 |
| Chaudhary et al., 2017 (31) | United States | National Inpatient Sample coding; rural included micropolitan and noncentre hospitals |
| Cofer et al., 2011 (32) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Cook et al., 2019 (33) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Deveney and Hunter, 2009 (34) | United States | State of Oregon definition: < 30 000 |
| Deveney et al., 2013 (35) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Doty et al., 2006 (36) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Doty et al., 2009 (37) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Doty et al., 2009 (38) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Ellison et al., 2021 (39) | United States | United States Census Bureau: area that is outside of urban areas |
| Etzioni et al., 2010 (40) | United States | Population cut-off < 2500 |
| Gates et al., 2003 (41) | United States | Population cut-off < 10 000 |
| Gadzinski et al., 2013 (42) | United States | Critical access hospitals |
| Germack et al., 2019 (43) | United States | Department of Agriculture Rural–Urban Continuum Codes |
| Glenn et al., 2017 (44) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Gruber et al., 2015 (45) | United States | Office of Management and Budget Definition (county population < 10 000) |
| Harris et al., 2010 (46) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Heneghan et al., 2005 (47) | United States | Office of Management and Budget Definition (county population < 10 000) |
| Jarman et al., 2009 (48) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Komaravolu et al., 2019 (49) | United States | United States Census Bureau: area that is outside of urban areas |
| Kwakwa and Jonasson, 1997 (50) | United States | Rural–urban commuting code |
| Landercasper et al., 1997 (51) | United States | Hospital network designation of rural |
| Lynge, 2008 (52) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Mercier et al., 2019 (53) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Moesinger and Hill, 2009 (54) | United States | Non-urban counties of Utah |
| Moore et al., 2016 (55) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Natafgi et al., 2017 (56) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Nealeigh et al., 2021 (18) | United States | Population < 10 000; nearest tertiary referral centre > 100 miles or 2-hour commute |
| Ritchie et al., 1999 (57) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Shively and Shively, 2005 (58) | United States | Office of Management and Budget Definition (county population < 10 000) |
| Sticca et al., 2012 (59) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Stiles et al., 2019 (60) | United States | Office of Management and Budget Definition (county population < 10 000) |
| Stinson et al., 2021 (61) | United States | Population cut off < 50 000 |
| Stringer et al., 2020 (62) | United States | Population density determined by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment |
| Thompson et al., 2005 (63) | United States | Population cut-off < 50 000 |
| Valentine et al., 2011 (64) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| VanBibber et al., 2006 (65) | United States | Rural–urban commuting codes |
| Zuckerman et al., 2007 (66) | United States | Office of Management and Budget Definition (county population < 10 000) |