Introduction The association between health outcomes and socioeconomic status (SES) has been widely documented, and mortality due to unintentional injuries continues to rank among the leading causes of death among British Columbians. This paper quantified the SES-related disparities in the mortality burden of three British Columbia’s provincial injury prevention priority areas: falls among seniors, transport injury, and youth suicide. Methods Mortality data (2009 to 2013) from Vital Statistics and dissemination area or local health area level socioeconomic data from CensusPlus 2011 were linked to examine age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) and disparities in ASMRs of unintentional injuries and subtypes including falls among seniors (aged 65+) and transport-related injuries as well as the intentional injury type of youth suicide (aged 15 to 24). Disparities by sex and geography were examined, and relative and absolute disparities were calculated between the least and most privileged areas based on income, education, employment, material deprivation, and social deprivation quintiles. Results Our study highlighted significant sex differences in the mortality burden of falls among seniors, transport injury, and youth suicide with males experiencing significantly higher mortality rates. Notable geographic variations in overall unintentional injury ASMR were also observed across the province. In general, people living in areas with lower income and higher levels of material deprivation had increasingly higher mortality rates compared to their counterparts living in more privileged areas. Conclusion The significant differences in unintentional and intentional injury-related mortality outcomes between the sexes and by SES present opportunities for targeted prevention strategies that address the disparities.
BackgroundCanada is among the world’s leading nations with the longest life expectancy at birth (LE0), and British Columbia (BC) ranks top among Canadian provinces and territories for LE0 in both men and women. This paper examined recent data as well as projected trends in LE0 of Canadian men and women and explored the geographic and socioeconomic disparities in LE0 specific to BC.MethodsUsing retrospective data on LE0 and age-standardized mortality rates, Canada was compared to 11 other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries with the longest LE0. Projections were made using linear regression modelling to the year of 2023. The association between regional LE0 and regional socioeconomic status (SES) was examined for the province of BC using its Local Health Area (LHA) level data on SES and LE0.ResultsIn 2009, Canadian men (LE0: 78.7 years) and women (LE0: 83.3 years) ranked 7th and 8th, respectively among the 12 OECD nations under comparison. Significantly smaller annual gains in LE0 contributed to the losing of their top ranks in LE0 for Canadian men and women in recent years, which was projected to sustain. Higher mortality risks, particularly for lung cancer and external causes of mortality among women was found for Canada compared to leading countries on these measures. Geographic variations were evident in LE0 in BC, and there was a significant gap of 3.6 years in the average LE0 for BC’s LHAs in the lowest SES tertile (78.6 years, 95% CI: 78.0-79.3) compared to those in the highest SES tertile (82.2 years, 95% CI: 81.6-82.8).ConclusionsCanada continues to remain one of the OECD countries with longest living population. With the highest LE0 in the country, British Columbia has an opportunity to address socio-economic disparities in LE0.
Area-based socio-economic indicators, such as the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD), have been used in equity analyses to inform strategies to improve needs-based, timely, and effective patient care and public health services to communities. The CIMD comprises four dimensions of deprivation: residential instability, economic dependency, ethno-cultural composition, and situational vulnerability. Using the CIMD methodology, the British Columbia Index of Multiple Deprivation (BCIMD) was developed to create indexes at the Community Health Services Area (CHSA) level in British Columbia (BC). BCIMD indexes are reported by quintiles, where quintile 1 represents the least deprived (or ethno-culturally diverse), and quintile 5 is the most deprived (or diverse). Distinctive characteristics of a community can be captured using the BCIMD, where a given CHSA may have a high level of deprivation in one dimension and a low level of deprivation in another. The utility of this data as a surveillance tool to monitor population demography has been used to inform decision making in healthcare by stakeholders in the regional health authorities and governmental agencies. The data have also been linked to health care data, such as COVID-19 case incidence and vaccination coverage, to understand the epidemiology of disease burden through an equity lens.
Background This study examines social disparities across neighbourhood levels of income, education and employment in relation to overall injury hospital separations in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Further, the study examines the relationships of social disparities to a set of three injury prevention priorities in British Columbia, namely, transport (motor vehicle occupant, pedestrian and cyclist), falls among older adults, and youth self-harm. The goal being to better understand area-based injury incidence with a view to precision prevention initiatives, particularly for more vulnerable populations. Methods Acute hospital separations from the Discharge Abstract Database were identified for all causes of injury and the three BC injury prevention priorities for the period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2014, inclusive. An ecological approach was applied where each hospital separation case was attributed with the income, education and employment level according to the injured individual’s area of residence, derived from the 2011 CensusPlus data. Results Injury hospital separation data were available for 191 Forward Sortation Areas in BC. Between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2014, there was a total of 177,861 injury-related hospital separations, averaging 35,572 hospital separations per year and an annual rate of 779 injury hospital separations per 100,000 population. Injury hospital separation rates varied with the measured neighbourhood area socioeconomic status variables. Injury hospital separation rates demonstrated an inverse relationship with neighbourhood levels of income and education. Neighbourhood area socioeconomic status differences were also associated with the injury hospital separation rates for falls among older adults, motor vehicle crashes involving motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians, cyclists and young drivers, and youth self-harm. Conclusions The study results show that neighbourhood levels of income, education and employment are associated with the risk of injury hospital separation. In particular, low education levels in FSAs was associated with increased risk of injury hospital separation, mainly for motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians, young drivers, and youth self-harm. The results of this study provide useful information for implementing injury prevention initiatives and interventions in BC to align with the provincial public health system and road safety strategy goals, particularly for identified priorities.
Introduction Sachant que l’association entre l'état de santé et le statut socioéconomique (SSE) est largement documentée et que les blessures non intentionnelles continuent de se classer parmi les principales causes de décès chez les Britanno-Colombiens, nous avons voulu quantifier les disparités liées au SSE dans les taux de mortalité associés à trois secteurs prioritaires pour la Colombie-Britannique en matière de prévention des blessures : le suicide chez les jeunes, les blessures liées aux chutes chez les aînés et les blessures liées au transport. Méthodologie Nous avons jumelé les données liées aux décès (2009 à 2013) tirées des statistiques de l’état civil et des données socioéconomiques de CensusPlus de 2011 à l’échelle de l’aire de diffusion ou de la circonscription sanitaire afin d'étudier les taux de mortalité normalisés selon l’âge (TMNA) et les disparités des TMNA concernant les blessures non intentionnelles et leurs sous-types, notamment les blessures liées aux chutes chez les aînés (65 ans et plus) et les blessures liées au transport, ainsi que le suicide chez les jeunes (15 à 24 ans), ce dernier étant considéré comme une forme de blessure intentionnelle. Nous avons étudié les disparités spatiales et les disparités selon le sexe et nous avons mesuré les disparités relatives et absolues entre les zones moins favorisées et les zones plus favorisées en fonction des quintiles de revenu, de scolarité, d’emploi, de défavorisation matérielle et de défavorisation sociale. Résultats Notre étude a mis en évidence d’importantes différences entre les sexes en matière de taux de mortalité attribuable au suicide chez les jeunes, à des blessures liées aux chutes chez les aînés et à des blessures liées au transport, les hommes affichant des taux de mortalité beaucoup plus élevés que les femmes. Nous avons également observé des variations spatiales notables dans les TMNA pour l’ensemble des blessures non intentionnelles à l’échelle de la province. En général, la population vivant dans des zones où les revenus étaient faibles et où la défavorisation matérielle était importante a affiché des taux de mortalité plus élevés que la population vivant dans des zones favorisées. Conclusion Le repérage de différences importantes dans les taux de mortalité liée à des blessures intentionnelles et non intentionnelles entre les sexes et en fonction du SSE ouvre des possibilités quant à l’élaboration de stratégies de prévention ciblées pour réduire ces disparités.
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