Introduction:

Rurality and health systems represent globally a field of forces marked by the survival of rurality and the inequity and inequality conditions in the access to health services.

Objective:

Identify the research methods used in the international context to analyze health services in rural populations.

Methods:

It was carried out an study of systematic review that included research reports related with the topic published until December, 2014. The selection process of the studies was conducted in four stages: identification, sieving, elegibility and inclusion. 253 references were recovered and those show the methodological diversity of approaches in the access to health services in rural populations.

Conclusions:

It is needed a different view to rurality for creating efficient public policies that are in accordance with the contexts and needs of communities that demand health services.

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