Health Reports, June 2024

There are two articles available in the June 2024 issue of Health Reports.

Extreme heat events were associated with elevated risk of dying in Canada's largest cities from 2000 to 2020

The study "The impacts of extreme heat events on non-accidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality: An analysis of 12 Canadian cities from 2000 to 2020" found higher-than-average risk of death during extreme heat event days in the majority of Canada's largest cities from 2000 to 2020. Extreme heat events were defined as two or more days with unusually warm temperatures. As climate change may lead to more frequent, more intense, and longer extreme heat events, it is important for Canadians to understand if, how, and where heat impacts health.

Using data from the Canadian Vital Statistics Database and Environment and Climate Change Canada, extreme heat events during the period from 2000 to 2020 were found to be associated with approximately 670 excess non-accidental deaths and 230 excess deaths due to cardiovascular and respiratory causes. In general, excess deaths were largely experienced by persons aged 65 years and older. Higher mortality risks during extreme heat events occurred in cities with larger proportions of rental households and fewer extreme heat events (where residents may be less likely to have adaptation resources and/or be less acclimatized to heat).

Almost three-quarters of Canadian seniors visit a dentist

Maintaining good oral health is important for healthy aging, since problems such as tooth loss, periodontal disease, and dry mouth worsen with age, impacting quality of life. A new study, entitled "Factors associated with the use of oral health care services among seniors in Canada," examined the link between dental insurance, income, and oral health care access among Canadian seniors. It found that 72.5% of Canadian seniors aged 65 and older had visited a dental professional in the previous 12 months. However, almost 10% of seniors had not visited a dental professional in the previous 3 years. Among these seniors, one-third identified cost as a barrier to their visit and more than half (56.3%) deemed a visit unnecessary.

Seniors with dental insurance were more likely to have visited a dentist and less likely to have avoided dental visits due to cost

A higher percentage of Canadian seniors with dental insurance (83.0%) had visited a dental professional in the past 12 months compared with uninsured seniors (65.3%). While this gap was evident for each subpopulation of seniors—men and women, age group, Indigenous identity, racialized population group, immigrant status, education, and province—it narrowed as income increased.

Cost-related avoidance of the dentist was, on average, about three times higher for uninsured Canadians than for those with dental insurance.