Health Reports

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

September 2021

All-cause acute care hospitalization rates of immigrants and the Canadian-born population: A linkage study

by Edward Ng, Jacklyn Quinlan, George Giovinazzo, Anne Grundy, Claudia Rank, Maria Syoufi, David Ponka, and Rochelle Garner

In 2019, approximately 340,000 immigrants became permanent residents in Canada, with the numbers expected to reach more than 400,000 per year by 2023. The Canadian government accords high priority to the health of immigrants, given the importance of health in successful integration and economic productivity. As part of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) health screening requirements, all permanent residence applicants must undergo an immigration medical examination. For admissibility purposes, Canada medically screens immigrants for selected diseases that pose a threat to public health (e.g., tuberculosis) or public safety, as well as to mitigate the impact on Canadian health or social services.

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The cancer survival index: Measuring progress in cancer survival to help evaluate cancer control efforts in Canada

by Larry F. Ellison

Population-based cancer survival estimates permit the monitoring of progress in cancer outcomes over time. When combined with cancer incidence and mortality time trends, they provide an indication of progress in overall cancer control. Estimates of survival for all cancers combined may provide summary measures with which to compare survival across geographic areas or within a geographic area over time. These estimates have routinely been age-standardized to control for differences in the age distribution of cancer cases within the populations being compared. However, cancer survival has also been shown to vary widely by cancer type and sometimes by sex within a particular cancer type. The distribution of incident cancer cases by cancer type (case-mix) and sex can also vary over time within a population or between populations during a given time period. A relatively new concept, the cancer survival index (CSI), is a summary measure of cancer survival that accounts for all three of these potentially confounding factors (i.e., age, sex and cancer type). In doing so, the CSI ensures more valid comparisons of cancer survival across populations for all cancers combined.

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