Health

National Food and Nutrition Surveys provide critical information to support the understanding the complex relationship between health and diet in the population. Many of these surveys use 24 hour recall methodology which collects at a detailed level all food and beverages consumed over a day. Often it is the longer term intake of foods and nutrients that is of interest and a number of techniques are available that allow estimation of population usual intakes. These techniques require that at least one repeat 24 hour recall be collected from at least a subset of the population in order to estimate the intra individual variability of intakes. Deciding on the number of individuals required to provide a repeat is an important step in the survey design that must recognize that too few repeat individuals compromises the ability to estimate usual intakes, but large numbers of repeats are costly and pose added burden to the respondents. This paper looks at the statistical issues related to the number of repeat individuals, assessing the impact of the number of repeaters on the stability and uncertainty in the estimate of intra individual variability and provides guidance on required number of repeat responders .

Growth curves are used by health professionals to determine whether the growth of a child or a foetus, for example, is within normal limits. The growth charts currently used in Canada for height, weight and body mass index (BMI) are based on US data. Child growth curves can now be generated from the latest available data in Canada. One way of estimating and drawing growth curves is the Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) method. The method has been used in various studies by the World Health Organization, the United Kingdom and the United States to generate reference growth curves for children. In this article, the LMS method is used to estimate growth curves in BMI percentiles from weighted cross-sectional data provided by cycle 2.2 of the Canadian Community Health Survey. This article is about the child BMI, one of the anthropometric measures most commonly used to assess growth and obesity.

This study describes the prevalence of chronic pain among seniors living in private households and in long-term health care institutions. Associations between an increase in chronic pain and unhappiness and negative self-perceived health are examined. Data are from the 1994/1995 through 2002/2003 National Population Health Survey and the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.

Based on findings from the 2005 Canadian Internet Use Survey, this article examines adults' use of the Internet to access health information. The study also looks at the type of searches conducted by those who sought health information.

This article uses a geographic-based approach to estimate life expectancy in areas where at least 33% of residents were Inuit. The data are from the Canadian Mortality Database and the Census of Canada.

This article compares rates of overweight/obesity and obesity and food consumption patterns of off-reserve Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people aged 19 to 50 in Ontario and the western provinces. The data are from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey: Nutrition.

The Record Linkage Overview describes the process used in annual internal record linkage of the Canadian Cancer Registry. The steps include: preparation; pre-processing; record linkage; post-processing; analysis and resolution; resolution entry; and, resolution processing.

The compendium of Canadian Cancer Registry procedures manuals set out the rules for reporting cancer data to the CCR for all provincial and territorial cancer registries.

Worldwide, depression is the leading cause of years lived with disability. It can affect many aspects of life, including work. In fact, the impact of depression on job performance has been estimated to be greater than that of chronic conditions. In 2002, almost 4% of employed Canadians aged 25 to 64 had had an episode of depression in the previous year. These workers had high odds of reducing work activity because of a long-term health condition, having at least one mental health disability day in the past two weeks, and being absent from work in the past week. In addition, depression was associated with reduced work activity and disability days two years later.

This article summarizes the background, history and rationale for the Canadian Health Measures Survey, and provides an overview of the objectives, methods and analysis plans.

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Profiles present a series of variables by different geographies, such as health regions, census metropolitan areas and rural/urban groups. Also available are profiles of linguistic minorities, Aboriginals and immigrants. The data provide information on the following variables: self-rated health, self-esteem, body mass index, arthritis/rheumatism, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, pain or discomfort, risk of depression, injuries, functional health, two-week disability days, activity limitation, smoking, frequency of heavy drinking, leisure time activities, fruit and vegetable consumption, decision latitude at work, social support, stress, exposure to second-hand smoke, influenza immunization, mammogram screenings, Pap tests, contact with health care providers, contact with dental professionals, contact with medical doctors, and contact with professionals for mental health. Data were collected from over 130,000 respondents, aged 12 or older, residing in households across all provinces and territories.

The Cancer Survival Statistics tables provide site-specific five-year observed and relative survival estimates for cases diagnosed from 1992 onwards. In addition to age-specific and age-standardized national (excl. Quebec) estimates, all ages (15 to 99 years) and age-standardized provincial estimates are available.

The annual Cancer Incidence in Canada tables provide information on the number of new cases and rates of cancer tumours and patients from 1992 onwards by five-year age-groups and sex for all Canadian provinces and territories as well as information on the primary ICD-O-3 sites of cancer.

This product presents current and historical cancer incidence and cancer survival statistics in Canada, as well as links to the Cancer Record and Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) procedures manuals.

The Annual Cancer Incidence in Canada tables provide information on the number of new cases and the rates of both cancer tumours and patients from 1992 onwards, by five-year age-groups and sex for all Canadian provinces and territories.

The Cancer Survival Statistics tables provide site-specific five-year observed and relative survival estimates for cases diagnosed from 1992 onwards. In addition to age-specific and age-standardized national (excl. Quebec) estimates, all ages (15 to 99 years) and age-standardized provincial estimates are available.

The Cancer Record is a newsletter for cancer registries in Canada. Its purpose is to improve the quality and consistency of data submitted to the CCR.

The compendium of Canadian Cancer Registry procedures manuals set out the rules for reporting cancer data to the CCR for all provincial and territorial cancer registries.

Links are also provided to other Statistics Canada data on cancer. The health regions cancer rates are part of the Health Indicators. The Comparable Health Indicators present information on health status and health system performance, including cancer incidence age-standardized cancer.

The Internet publication, Mental Health and Well-being, from the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) provides cross-sectional estimates at provincial and national levels. Topics include the prevalence of various mental disorders (depression, mania, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia), mental health problems (alcohol and illicit drug dependence, gambling, suicide, eating trouble) and access to and use of mental health care services in the past 12 months.

The survey also collects information on many determinants and correlates of mental health such as socio-demographic information, income, stress, medication use and social support.

Data were collected from close to 37,000 respondents, aged 15 or older, residing in households in each province.

The main objective of the 2002 Youth Smoking Survey (YSS) is to provide current information on the smoking behaviour of students in grades 5 to 9 (in Quebec primary school grades 5 and 6 and secondary school grades 1 to 3), and to measure changes that occurred since the last time the survey was conducted in 1994. Additionally, the 2002 survey collected basic data on alcohol and drug use by students in grades 7 to 9 (in Quebec secondary 1 to 3). Results of the Youth Smoking Survey will help with the evaluation of anti-smoking and anti-drug use programs, as well as with the development of new programs.

The Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health is a collaborative project undertaken by Statistics Canada and the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the first survey that asks a common set of questions to approximately 3,500 Canadians and 5,200 U.S. residents about their health status and access to health care services. The analytical report in this publication compares Canadians and U.S. residents on a broad range of health dimensions including self-perceived health, chronic conditions, functional status, life-style factors such as smoking and obesity, health care utilization and satisfaction with health care services. A public use microdata file (PUMF) has been prepared from the survey, and is available for free download in this publication. The PUMF comes with complete documentation, including a data dictionary, a user guide and a document explaining how the derived variables were created. "Bootstrap" weights for variance calculation are also provided for free download.

The Cancer Survival Statistics tables provide site-specific five-year observed and relative survival estimates for cases diagnosed from 1992 onwards. In addition to age-specific and age-standardized national (excl. Quebec) estimates, all ages (15 to 99 years) and age-standardized provincial estimates are available.

The annual Cancer Incidence in Canada tables provide information on the number of new cases and rates of cancer tumours and patients from 1992 onwards by five-year age-groups and sex for all Canadian provinces and territories as well as information on the primary ICD-O-3 sites of cancer.

The 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) is a post-censal survey of adults and children whose everyday activities are limited because of a condition or health problem. A sample of those persons who answered 'Yes' to the 2001 Census disability filter questions were included in the PALS survey population. Approximately 35, 000 adults (aged 15 and over) and 8,000 children (aged 0 to 14) living in private or collective households in the 10 provinces were selected to participate in the survey. Persons living in institutions, on Indian reserves, and in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut were excluded from the survey. The data were collected after the 2001 Census, in the fall of 2001.

These tables contain data on the educational attainment, labour force activity and income of adults with and without disabilities.

This article examines diferences in all causes mortality rates and rates for the leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer and cerebrovascular disease) by census metropolitan (CMA).

This article describes the prevalance of the four international body mass index (BMI) categories - underweight (18.5 or less), acceptable weight (18.6 to 24.9), overweight (25 to 29.9) and obese (30 or more) - by selected socio-demographic and lefestyle characteristics. It also examines the association between BMI and selected health problems.

This article examines associations between the use of selected medications and fall-related fractures in the household population aged 65 or older.

This article examines socioeconomic differences in insurance for dental services among Canadians aged 15 or older and factors associated with the use of dental services.

This is the first time Statistics Canada has published an estimate of health research and development spending in Canada.

Over the past 25 years, the eating habits and lifestyles of Canadians have changed. They are including more fruit and vegetables, legumes, poultry, meat, grains, cereal products and salad oils in their diets. At the same time, they are shifting away from meat, butter, and milk. Changes in consumer preferences, convenient pre-packaged products, growing ethnic diversity, price, health concerns, marketing and advertising are some of the factors influencing consumption patterns.

This article looks at which women have the greatest chance of bearing a third child.

This article focuses on melanoma, a cancer of the cells that colour the skin.

This article examines socioeconomic differences in supplementary insurance for prescription drugs among Canadians aged 15 or older and how the availability of such insurance affects prescription drug use. Overall, about 6 in 10 Canadians reported having drug insurance, although the percentage covered rose with household income.

This article compares the socioeconomic and health characteristics of the household population aged 35 to 64 with and without self-reported heart disease. The estimated 345,000 Canadians aged 35 to 64 who have been diagnosed with heart disease were less likely to be employed and more likely to live in low-income households than their contemporaries who did not have heart disease.

The User Guide to Record Linkage Feedback Reports C1 and C2 is intended for the users of the reports. The reports were developed to facilitate the exchange of information and decisions between the Canadian Cancer Registry and the Provincial and Territorial Cancer Registries.

The User Guide to Record Linkage Feedback Reports C1 and C2 is intended for the users of the reports. The reports were developed to facilitate the exchange of information and decisions between the Canadian Cancer Registry and the Provincial and Territorial Cancer Registries.

The user guide to Death Clearance Feedback Reports is intended for users of the feedback reports. The feedback reports were developed to facilitate the exchange of information and decisions between the Canadian Cancer Registry and the Provincial and Territorial Cancer Registries.

The Record Linkage Overview describes the process used in annual internal record linkage of the Canadian Cancer Registry. The steps include: preparation; pre-processing; record linkage; post-processing; analysis and resolution; resolution entry; and, resolution processing.

The Death Clearance Overview document describes the Death Clearance module of the Canadian Cancer Registry, its structure, its function and its role in the operation of the national cancer registry. Inputs and outputs are listed and briefly described, as well as the different steps constituting the Death Clearance process.

The Guidelines for Abstracting and Determining Death Certificate Only Cases are intended for use by all provincial and territorial cancer registries during their Death Clearance Process. The guidelines should be used when performing a comparison between the Death Certificate Notification and the cancer registry database.

This document examines the functional limitations, physical, emotional and social, related to the musculoskeletal conditions having the largest impact on the health of Canadians. These functional limitations are described and classified using the Classification and Measurement System of Functional Health (CLAMES).

These descriptions and classifications are the first step in a new approach to measuring the health of Canadians that examines what factors are adversely affecting population health and how to address them. This document also provides health professionals, advocacy groups, and individual Canadians with an overview of how living with certain musculoskeletal conditions affects day-to-day functioning.

This report describes the design, methodology, and results of the first study undertaken by Statistics Canada to measure the impact on Canadian cause of death trends of a new revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Using 1999 Canadian mortality data, Statistics Canada carried out a comparability, or "bridge-coding", study by dual-coding deaths to both the Ninth and Tenth Revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 and ICD-10). The preliminary results of this exercise were used to generate comparability ratios; these ratios measure the net effect of the new revision, with ratios above 1.00 indicating a net increase in deaths classified to a cause of death, and ratios below 1.00 indicating a net decrease.

The comparability ratios derived from dual-coding medical certificates of cause of death presented in this report estimate the size and direction of the disruption to cause of death trends due to the implementation of ICD-10. Researchers and analysts using Canadian mortality data should use these summary measures to calculate comparability-modified death counts and mortality rates to bridge the gap between ICD-9 and ICD-10.

This document examines the functional limitations-physical, emotional and social-related to the most common types of diabetes and the conditions that result from the disease. These functional limitations are described and classified using the Classification and Measurement System of Functional Health (CLAMES).

These descriptions and classifications are the first step in a new approach to measuring the health of Canadians that examines what factors are adversely affecting population health and how to address them. This document also provides health professionals, advocacy groups, and individual Canadians with an overview of how living with diabetes affects day-to-day functioning.

This document examines the functional limitations - physical, emotional and social -experienced by patients at the time of diagnosis of cancer and as they undergo various treatments, remission, and palliative and terminal care. These functional limitations are described and classified using the Classification and Measurement System of Functional Health (CLAMES).

These descriptions and classifications are the first step in a new approach to measuring the health of Canadians that examines what factors are adversely affecting population health and how to address them. This document also provides health professionals, advocacy groups, and individual Canadians with an overview of how living with cancer affects day-to-day functioning.