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Feature Articles |
|
1. Assessment of mental health and illness by telephone
survey: Experience with an Alberta mental health
survey |
PDF version |
2. Trends in cancer prevalence in Quebec |
PDF
version |
3. Validity of death and
stillbirth certificates and hospital discharge summaries for the
identification of neural tube defects in Quebec City |
PDF
version |
4. Epidemiology of hepatocellular
carcinoma in Canada, 1995: Analysis of death
certificates |
PDF
version |
5. Building connections for young
adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Manitoba: Feasibility and
acceptability of a transition initiative |
PDF
version |
Chronic Diseases in Canada (CDIC) is a quarterly scientific journal focussing on current evidence relevant to the control and prevention of chronic (i.e. non-communicable) diseases and injuries in Canada. Since 1980 the journal has published a unique blend of peer-reviewed feature articles by authors from the public and private sectors and which may include research from such fi elds as epidemiology, public/community health, biostatistics, the behavioural sciences, and health services or economics. Only feature articles are peer reviewed. Authors retain responsibility for the content of their articles; the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the CDIC editorial committee nor of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Authors: Scott B Patten, Carol E Adair, Jeanne V A Williams, Rollin Brant, Jian Li Wang, Ann Casebeer and Pierre Beauséjour
Abstract:
Mental health is an emerging priority
for health surveillance. It has not been determined that the
existing data sources can adequately meet surveillance needs. The
objective of this project was to explore the use of telephone
surveys as a means of collecting supplementary surveillance
information. A computer-assisted telephone interview was
administered to 5,400 subjects in Alberta. The interview included a
set of brief, validated measures for evaluating mental disorder
prevalence and related variables. The individual subject response
rate was 78%, but a substantial number of refusals occurred at the
initial household contact. The age and sex distribution of the
study sample differed from that of the provincial population prior
to weighting. Prevalence proportions did not vary substantially
across administrative health regions. There is a potential role for
telephone data collection in mental health surveillance, but these
results highlight some associated methodological challenges. They
also draw into question the importance of regional variation in
mental disorder prevalence - which might otherwise have been a key
advantage of telephone survey methodologies.
Authors: Rabiâ Louchini, Michel Beaupré, Alain A Demers, Patricia Goggin and Clermont Bouchard
Abstract:
Cancer prevalence is of prime
interest in public health because of its use in estimating the
disease’s burden on the heath care system. This study’s
objective was to estimate five-year prevalence of tumours from 1989
to 1999 and ten-year prevalence of tumours from 1994 to 1999 in the
Province of Quebec (Canada). Five-year prevalence was used to
represent tumours for which people are more likely to obtain
primary treatment; ten-year prevalence included those tumours in
addition to tumours that can be considered cured but still need
follow-up. Information was extracted from the Quebec Cancer
Registry. Prostate cancer was the most prevalent malignancy among
males (25%, fi ve-year prevalent tumours), while breast cancer was
most prevalent among females (38%, five-year prevalent tumours).
For both sexes, the greatest observed prevalence increase was for
endocrine glands. On average, five-year prevalence proportions were
16% higher in men than in women; those of ten year were 14% higher
in men. Furthermore, the largest differences were observed for
bladder and lung cancer. The change in cancer prevalence in Quebec
was dependent on the tumour site.
Authors: Fassiatou Tairou, Philippe De Wals and Adrien Bastide
Abstract:
The objectives of this study were 1)
to assess the validity of different databases which identify neural
tube defect (NTD) cases in the population, and 2) to examine the
temporal trends in NTD rates and the impact of prenatal diagnoses
among pregnancies referred to a tertiary care hospital in Quebec
City, Canada, from 1993 to 2002. Infant death and stillbirth
certificates were a highly reliable source for ascertaining NTD
cases, but their overall sensitivity was poor (13%). Med-Echo had
very good sensitivity (92%), but there were many coding errors in
the database and some diagnostic categories were not specific for
NTD. The average NTD prevalence proportion was 6.5/1,000 births
during the entire study period, decreasing from 12.2/1,000 in 1993
to 3.9/1,000 in 2002. Overall, 78.6% of NTD cases were diagnosed
prenatally and the pregnancy was terminated in 52.6% of these.
These two proportions were stable over the study years. To
conclude, the combination of hospital discharge summaries and
infant death and stillbirth certificates is a highly sensitive
method for the ascertainment of NTD cases, including terminations
of pregnancies, but medical records must be reviewed to exclude
coding errors and to clarify unspecific diagnostic categories.
Authors: Susie ElSaadany and Antonio Giulivi
Abstract:
A descriptive analysis of
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) deaths in Canada for 1995 was
undertaken. Cases (ICD-9 155.0) were identified from the Statistics
Canada annual mortality file; age-adjusted death rates by age, sex
and province were calculated. Antecedent causes and conditions
leading to death listed on the death certificate, including viral
hepatitis infection and cirrhosis, were examined, in addition to
birthplace information. The 403 cases identified resulted in an
annual age-standardized mortality rate of 2.11 deaths per 100,000
persons among men and 0.64 deaths per 100,000 persons among women.
Mean age at death was 65.5 years with male-to-female ratio
approximately 3:1. Compared to the age-standardized rate for
birthplace of Canada of 0.96 per 100,000 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.10), the
age-standardized mortality rates were significantly elevated for
birthplace of Europe 1.72 (95% CI: 1.37, 2.28), Asia 5.17 (95% CI:
4.11, 6.44), and non-significantly elevated for all other countries
1.54 (95% CI: 0.94, 2.39). In total, 60 patients (15%) were
reported to have had viral hepatitis; sufficient information was
not provided for the remainder. Of the total population, 8.7 % were
reported to have had viral hepatitis B and 5.2 % had viral
hepatitis C. Information on cirrhosis was provided in 103 (26%) of
cases. Of these, the largest proportion (45%) was of unknown type
while 23 patients (22%) had alcohol-related cirrhosis. Prevalence
of antecedent causes was slightly lower than reported previously
and may be considered minimum estimates since inadequate
information was provided in over 50% of deaths.
Authors: Norma Van Walleghem, Catherine A MacDonald and Heather J Dean
Abstract:
During the transition from pediatric
to adult diabetes care there is often a high rate of medical
dropout and increased rates of acute and chronic complications.
Building Connections: The Maestro Project was initiated in
September 2002 by the Diabetes Education Resource for Children and
Adolescents and the City of Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in
Manitoba, Canada to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an
administrative support and systems navigation service for young
adults with type 1 diabetes. The participation rate on February 28,
2005 was 78.9% (373/473). Of the 323 young adult participants 18 to
30 years of age, 127 requested 230 community contacts for access
care and education. Specifically, 46 re-referrals were made for
specialty care (adult endocrinologists or general internists), 34
contact numbers were given for family physician care, and there
were 121 contacts to reconnect with diabetes education and
counseling services and 29 contacts for an optometrist. The first
22 years of the project have demonstrated the feasibility and
acceptability of this model of service for young adults with type 1
diabetes as they move from pediatric to adult care.