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Study: Health and health care use in Canada and the United States
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Americans in the lowest income groups are much more likely than their Canadian counterparts to be in fair or poor health, according to a study comparing health status and access to health care services between the two nations.
The study was based on the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health, a unique population health survey conducted jointly by Statistics Canada and the US National Center for Health Statistics of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between November 2002 and June 2003.
The study, published recently in the journal Health Affairs, found that almost one-third (31%) of Americans with the lowest incomes reported fair or poor health, compared with 23% among their Canadian counterparts.
At the other end of the income spectrum, there were no differences in health status between Canadians and Americans in the highest income group.
In terms of access to health care services, the situation for Canadians was more like that of insured Americans. Canadians and insured affluent Americans were similar regarding their access to physicians, including access to a regular medical doctor. However, Canadians experienced fewer unmet health care needs overall.
Results from the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health were first released in The Daily on June 2, 2004.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5020.
The article "Comparing health and health care use in Canada and the United States" was published recently in Health Affairs, and the abstract is available at (http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/1133).
It is based on the 2002/2003 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health: Findings and Public-use Microdata File (82M0022XIE, free), which is available on our website. This work is a collaboration of Statistics Canada and the US National Center for Health Statistics of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For general information or to order custom tabulations, contact Client Services (613-951-1746; hd-ds@statcan.gc.ca), Health Division.
To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Claudia Sanmartin (613-951-6059; fax: 613-951-3959; claudia.sanmartin@statcan.gc.ca), Health Analysis and Measurement Group.
