Access to specialized health care services among older Canadians

Background Canada is experiencing rapid population aging, which has a wide range of implications, including an increased need for health care services. However, very few studies have examined use of specialized health care services (e.g., visits to medical specialists, non-emergency tests, and surgeries) among older Canadians.

Data and methods Data from the Canadian Health Survey on Seniors – 2019/2020 were used to examine specialized health care service use among older Canadians. Latent class analysis was calibrated using a nationally representative sample of 39,047 Canadians aged 65 years or older to identify distinct patterns of need factors related to health care service use. Multivariable logistic regression, stratified by gender, was used to examine the association of predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and need factors with specialized health care service use.

Results In 2019/2020, an estimated 2.6 million older Canadians (43.4%) visited medical specialists, 1.4 million (23.2%) got non-emergency tests, and 0.6 million (10.4%) had non-emergency surgeries. Among those, 15.6% reported experiencing difficulties accessing services. Women were less likely than men to have visited medical specialists and have received non-emergency tests. Lower education was consistently associated with lower odds of specialized health care service use. Individuals in the multimorbidity, high stress–multimorbidity–disability,andpoor physical and mental health classes were more likely than those in the comparatively healthy class to use specialized health care services and to experience difficulties accessing them.

Interpretation Findings of this study highlight gender differences and the importance of considering multidimensional need factors—ranging from physical health to mental health to psychosocial factors—in examining use of specialized health care services.

Keywords health care use, medical specialists, non-emergency tests, non-emergency surgeries, older Canadians

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Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated August 20, 2024, 02:29 (UTC)
Created August 6, 2024, 21:59 (UTC)
Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Social Services
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
File format of the dataset.
.pdf - application/pdf, application/vnd.dtg.local.html
Dataset Size
Dataset size in megabytes.
0.659216
Metadata Identifier
Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2024003/article/00002-eng.pdf?st=3UbMuEvy
Published Date
Published date of the dataset.
2024-03-20
Time Period Data Span (start date)
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2019-01-01
Time Period Data Span (end date)
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2020-12-31
GeoSpatial Area Data Span
A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.
Canada
Field Value
Access category
Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
Open
Limits on use
Limits on use of data.
Subject to Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement
Location
Location of the dataset.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2024003/article/00002-eng.htm
Data Service
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Owner
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Statistics Canada
Contact Point
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infostats@statcan.gc.ca
Publisher
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Statistics Canada
Publisher Email
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infostats@statcan.gc.ca
Author
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Statistics Canada
Author Email
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infostats@statcan.gc.ca
Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
2024-08-06
Field Value
Identifier
Unique identifier for the dataset.
/n1/pub/82-003-x/2024003/article/00002-eng.htm
Language
Language(s) of the dataset
English
Link to dataset description
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https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2024003/article/00002-eng.pdf
Persistent Identifier
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Yes
Globally Unique Identifier
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Yes
Contains data about individuals
Does the data hold data about individuals?
No
Contains data about identifiable individuals
Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
No
Contains Indigenous Data
Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
No
Field Value
Version
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Date modified: 2024-03-20
Source
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https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2024003/article/00002-eng.pdf
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Annually
GeoSpatial resolution in meters
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Field Value
Indigenous Community Permission
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Community Permission
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The Indigenous communities the dataset is about
Indigenous communities from which data is derived.
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