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A Canadian peer-reviewed journal of population health and health services research

January 2016

Population health impact of statin treatment in Canada

by Deirdre A. Hennessy, Peter Tanuseputro, Meltem Tuna, Carol Bennett, Richard Perez, Margot Shields, Dennis T. Ko, Jack Tu and Douglas G. Manuel

Statins—drugs used to lower cholesterol—have been shown to improve survival and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events among individuals across the spectrum of CVD risk. As a result, statins are one of the most frequently prescribed classes of drugs in Canada, and constitute the leading drug cost in all provincial drug programs, with direct drug costs totalling almost $2 billion annually. The prescribing of statins has not been without controversy. New guidelines on CVD risk assessment and statin treatment from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association and from the National Institute for Clinical Evaluation in the United Kingdom have brought the issue into the headlines.

Abstract Full article PDF version The Daily release

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Population health impact of statin treatment in Canada

The 2006 Canadian Birth-Census Cohort

by Tracey Bushnik, Seungmi Yang, Michael S. Kramer, Jay S. Kaufman, Amanda J. Sheppard and Russell Wilkins

Reducing health disparities is an ongoing population health goal in Canada and other countries. A step toward achieving this goal is to exploit existing data on the nature and extent of variations in health across socioeconomic and ethnocultural groups. Evidence on disparities in perinatal health in Canada has generally been limited to analyses by neighbourhood characteristics, or for selected provinces, owing to a lack of socioeconomic and ethnocultural information in most routinely collected perinatal data.

Abstract Full article PDF version The Daily release

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The 2006 Canadian Birth-Census Cohort

Validation of the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) in the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey

by Evelyne Bougie, Rubab G. Arim, Dafna E. Kohen and Leanne C. Findlay

The 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a short measure of non-specific psychological distress. The K10 has been shown to be a sensitive screen for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for anxiety and mood disorders in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Japan. The K10 is frequently used in population health surveys, especially in situations where it is not feasible to include a long diagnostic interview to assess mental disorders.

Abstract Full article PDF version The Daily release

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Validation of the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) in the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey

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