New findings on the use of hospital services from new linked data
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Released: 2017-07-19
Findings from two papers published today in Health Reports offer new insights on the use of hospital services among Aboriginal children and youth, and economic immigrants.
These new linked data shed light on the patterns of use of hospital services among key populations. While information on acute care hospitalization has been reported for years, information for specific groups has only been made available through linkages of hospital data to other data sources that contain information about these groups. As the Canadian population becomes increasingly diverse, understanding the unique patterns of health care use will become increasingly important.
Aboriginal children and youth
Results of a linkage of census and hospital data show higher hospitalization rates among Aboriginal children and youth, with rates of hospitalization varying across Aboriginal groups (First Nations, Métis and Inuit), the primary reason for hospitalization and by age. High rates of hospitalizations for Aboriginal children and youth in general may be associated with a range of factors including less favourable socio-economic conditions, such as income and education, as well as access and barriers to care.
Hospitalization rates were generally highest for First Nations children and youth who lived on reserves and for Inuit in Inuit Nunangat. Rates tended to be lower for First Nations who did not live on reserves and for Métis.
The leading cause of hospitalization for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children aged 0 to 9 was diseases of the respiratory system. Housing conditions such as crowding and poor indoor air quality have been associated with respiratory problems among Aboriginal children and youth. The second leading cause for children in each Aboriginal group was injuries and poisoning, followed by diseases of the digestive system.
Among 10- to 19-year-olds in each Aboriginal group, the leading cause of hospitalization was pregnancy and childbirth, followed by injuries and poisoning. For First Nations (living on- or off-reserve) and Inuit youth, the third leading cause was mental and behavioural disorders. For Métis and for non-Aboriginal youth, diseases of the digestive system ranked third.
Economic immigrants
Results of a linkage of immigrant landing data and hospital records show lower overall rates of hospitalization among economic class immigrants (principal applicants) aged 25 to 74, compared with their Canadian-born counterparts. This finding prevailed among all classes of economic immigrants, including skilled workers and business classes, and for all-cause hospitalization as well as leading causes of hospitalization, including circulatory and digestive diseases.
Economic class immigrants are selected based on a point system designed to assess their skills and potential contribution to the Canadian economy. They constitute the majority of recent arrivals in Canada. All applicants for permanent residence undergo a medical assessment. Nevertheless, there are differences across economic class immigrants in terms of their use of medical services.
For example, women arriving in Canada as live-in caregivers were more likely to be hospitalized for digestive-related diseases than were those who arrived as skilled workers. These differences were partially attributable to differences in age, education, official language proficiency, and place of birth.
Note to readers
"Acute care hospitalization of Aboriginal children and youth" is based on data from the 2006 Census of Population linked to the 2006/2007-to-2008/2009 Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) for all provinces and territories except Quebec. For more information about the 2006 Census of Population linked to the 2006/2007-to-2008/2009DAD, see "Linking 2006 Census and hospital data in Canada," Health Reports, Vol. 26, no. 10. These data are currently available in the Research Data Centres.
Hospital records were classified by Aboriginal identity as reported to the census, and grouped by International Classification of Diseases chapters, based on the most responsible diagnosis.
"Hospitalization rates among economic immigrants to Canada" is based on the 1980-to-2008 Immigrant Landing File linked to the 2006/2007-to-2008/2009DAD for all provinces and territories except Quebec. For more information about the data linkage, see "Linking the Canadian Immigrant Landing File to Hospital Data: A New Data Source for Immigrant Health Research", Analytical Studies: Methods and References, August 2016.
Products
"Acute care hospitalization of Aboriginal children and youth in Canada" and "Hospitalization rates among economic immigrants to Canada," are available in the July 2017 online issue of Health Reports, Vol. 28, no. 7 (82-003-X).
Contact information
To enquire about "Acute care hospitalization of Aboriginal children and youth", contact Evelyne Bougie (evelyne.bougie@canada.ca), Health Analysis Division.
To enquire about "Hospitalization rates among economic immigrants to Canada," contact Edward Ng (edward.ng@canada.ca), Health Analysis Division.
For more information about Health Reports, contact Janice Felman (613-799-7746; janice.felman@canada.ca), Health Analysis Division.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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