Health Indicators, vol. 2001, no. 3
Definitions and data Sources
Non-medical determinants of health
Health behaviours
Living and working conditions
Personal resources
Health behaviours
Smoking status
Definition:
Population aged 12 and over who reported being either a smoker (daily
or occasional) or a non-smoker (former or never smoked).
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95, 1996/97
and 1998/99, cross sectional sample, health file
Quitting smoking
Definition:
Population aged 12 and over who smoked in one survey cycle but had quit
by a subsequent survey cycle. Smokers are those who smoke on either a
daily or an occasional basis. Consecutive survey cycles are taken two
years apart.
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95 and 1996/97,
longitudinal sample, health file
Frequency of heavy drinking
Definition:
Population aged 12 and over who are current drinkers and who reported
drinking 5 or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past 12 months.
Sources:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95, 1996/97
and 1998/99, cross sectional sample, health file
Leisure-time physical activity
Definition:
Population aged 12 and over reporting level of physical activity, based
on their responses to questions about the frequency, duration and intensity
of their participation in leisure-time physical activity.
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95, 1996/97
and 1998/99, cross sectional sample, health file
Breastfeeding practices
Definition:
Recently-born children of mothers aged 15 to 49 who were breastfed, and
the duration of breastfeeding. Recently-born means born within three years
previous to being surveyed.
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth,
1994/95, 1996/97 and 1998/99.
Living and working conditions
High school graduates
Definition:
Population aged 25 to 29 who have a high school graduation certificate.
A measure of educational attainment and socio-economic status.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Post-secondary graduates
Definition:
Population aged 25 to 54 who have obtained a post-secondary certificate,
diploma, or degree.
A measure of educational attainment and socio-economic status.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Average number of years of schooling
Definition:
Average number of years (or grades) of schooling at elementary, secondary,
university and non-university for the population aged 25 to 54.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Unemployment rate
Definition:
Labour force aged 15 and over who did not have a job during the reference
period.
The labour force consists of people who are currently employed and people
who are unemployed but were available to work in the reference period
and had looked for work in the past 4 weeks. The reference period refers
to a one-week period (from Sunday to Saturday) that usually includes the
15th day of the month.
A traditional measure of the economy. Unemployed people tend to experience
more health problems.
Source:
Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (special tabulations)
Long-term unemployment rate
Definition:
Labour force aged 15 and over who did not have a job any time during the
current or previous year (for example, the years 1995 and 1996 for the
1996 Census).
The labour force consists of people currently employed and people who
are unemployed but were available to start work in the week prior to enumeration
and looked for work in the past 4 weeks.
Unemployed people tend to experience more health problems. Long-term
unemployment could extend ones' susceptibility to poor health.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Low income rate (1995 income)
Definition:
Population in economic families and unattached individuals with incomes
below the Statistics Canada low-income cut-off (LICO). The cut-offs represent
levels of income where people spend disproportionate amounts of money
for food, shelter, and clothing. LICOs are based on family and community
size; cut-offs are updated to account for changes in the consumer price
index.
The term economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who
live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage,
common-law or adoption.
A widely used measure of socio-economic status. Higher income is associated
with better health.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Children in low-income families (1995 income)
Definition:
Population of children aged 17 and under living in economic families with
incomes below Statistics Canada’s low-income cut-offs (LICO). The cut-offs
represent levels of income where people spend disproportionate amounts
of money for food, shelter, and clothing. LICOs are based on family and
community size; cut-offs are updated to account for changes in the consumer
price index.
The term economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who
live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage,
common-law or adoption.
A widely used measure of children at risk.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Average personal income (1995 income)
Definition:
Average personal income (pre-tax, post-transfer) for persons aged 15 and
over who reported income.
Higher income is associated with better health.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Housing affordability (1995 income)
Definition:
Households (renters, owners, and total) spending 30% or more of total
household income on shelter expenses. Shelter expenses include payments
for electricity, oil, gas, coal, wood or other fuels, water and other
municipal services, monthly mortgage payments, property taxes, condominium
fees and rent.
As a general rule, households are considered to have affordability problems
if more than 30% of household income is spent on housing costs. At that
level of spending, it is likely that inadequate funds will be available
for other necessities such as food, clothing, and transportation. Housing
affordability problems affect renters more than owners. Band housing on
Indian reserves was not included in the calculation of housing affordability.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Decision latitude at work
Definition:
Degree of control that currently employed workers aged 15 to 74 have over
their work circumstances (who agree or disagree with the statement "I
have a lot to say about what happens in my job." and "My job
allows me the freedom to decide how I do my job.").
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95, cross sectional
sample, health file
Income inequality
Definition:
Proportion of income (from all sources, pre-tax, post-transfer) held by
households whose incomes fall below the median household income.
A proportion of 50% would represent no inequality.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample), special tabulations
Government transfer income
Definition:
Proportion of all income that came from government transfers (e.g., Canada
or Quebec Pension Plan, Unemployment Insurance, etc.) for the population
15 years of age and over.
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Owner-occupied dwellings and average dwelling value
Definition:
Owner-occupied dwellings is the percentage of private dwellings in which
the owner lives (excluding band housing and collective dwellings). Average
dwelling value is the average expected value of owner-occupied dwellings
(including the value of the land) if the dwellings were to be sold at
the time of the Census (excluding dwellings located on farms and reserves).
Source:
Statistics Canada, 1996 Census (20% sample)
Personal resources
Social support
Definition:
Level of perceived social support reported by population aged 12 and over,
based on their responses to four questions about having someone to confide
in, someone they can count on in a crisis, someone they can count on for
advice, and someone who makes them feel loved and cared for.
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95 and 1996/97,
cross sectional sample, health file
Life stress
Definition:
Level of chronic stress reported by the population aged 18 and over, based
on their responses to a series of 17 questions about their personal situation.
Source:
Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey, 1994/95 cross sectional
sample, health file
|
