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CMAJ • August 5, 2003; 169 (3)
© 2003 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

NEWS
NOUVELLES

PULSE

Health of the nation: "I'm fine, eh"

Lynda Buske

Associate Director of Research CMA

Canadians may share some concerns about the health of the medicare system, but new data indicate that a majority of them (61%) rate the state of their own health as very good or excellent.


Figure.

The data are from a health indicators framework designed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and Statistics Canada. It includes health status, nonmedical determinants of health, health system performance and community and health system characteristics.

Health status is defined by health condition, human function, well- being and death. Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest proportion of respondents reporting very good or excellent health (66%), while Nunavut had the lowest (53%). Almost one-third of Canadians report having a body mass index greater than 27, while 4% have diabetes and 15% have arthritis/rheumatism. Disability-free life expectancy was highest in Quebec (70 years) and lowest in Nova Scotia (66 years) and Nunavut (63 years). However, Quebecers lost the most potential years of life due to acute myocardial infarction and the second most for lung cancer (after Nunavut).

Nonmedical determinants of health include smoking, drinking, diet, life stress, unemployment and crime rates. Over a quarter (26%) of Canadians smoke, and 43% report being physically active. British Columbia is the most active province (49%) and New Brunswick is least active (35%). Crime rates are highest in the 3 territories, followed by Saskatchewan.

Health system performance is measured by indicators such as adjusted mortality rates 30 days after surgery, and readmission rates. Between 1998/2001, 19% of patients hospitalized following a new stroke died within 30 days of admission, and 12% died following a new heart attack.

Community and health system characteristics provide useful contextual information but are not direct measures of health status or quality of health care. Those measures include the physician–population ratio and rates for hip- and knee-replacement surgery and cardiac bypass surgery. — Lynda Buske, Associate Director of Research, CMAJ





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