IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

Researchers from the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the University of Saskatchewan have teamed up to study the social factors driving substance use harm in Saskatchewan. They used a database called the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts (CanCHEC), which links health data with census information. To help other researchers do similar work in different parts of Canada, they’ve provided a fully annotated STATA code file that can save a lot of time and effort.

CanCHEC is a valuable resource that links health system data with census information, allowing researchers to look at how substance use harm varies among socioeconomic and cultural groups over time and across different regions in Canada. Despite its potential, the database’s large and complex nature often discourages researchers from using it. Covering six cycles from 1991 to 2016, CanCHEC combines data from census respondents with information on hospitalisation, mortality, cancer incidence, emergency care, and postal code history. This information is spread across more than 50 datasets, making it challenging to work with. The annotated coding script provided in this study aims to simplify the process, making it easier for researchers to unlock CanCHEC’s potential and explore the underlying causes of substance use harm.

In this study, published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), the team created a group of 228,000 Saskatchewan residents by linking their information from the 2006 Census with their hospitalisation and death records up to 2016. They found that people with lower incomes, less education, and those living in rural areas in their cohort were more likely to experience substance use harm. Additionally, they found that substance use harm has been on the rise, which matches findings from other studies.

These findings highlight the importance of using linked data to understand the social reasons behind health problems, which could help shape future research and policies on substance use in Canada. This work, made possible through the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, is expected to speed up research on substance use harm and help make better decisions in healthcare and public policy.

Lead author and research specialist Anousheh Marouzi said, “We hope this study and the detailed code file we’ve provided will enable other researchers across Canada to explore the social factors driving substance use harm more effectively. By making these tools accessible, we aim to accelerate research and contribute to better-informed public health policies addressing the root causes of substance use harm.”

 

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Anousheh Marouzi, Research Specialist, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatoon, Canada

Marouzi, A., Plante, C. and Fornssler, B. (2024) “Creating an 11-year longitudinal substance use harm cohort from linked health and census data to analyse social drivers of health”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 9(1). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v9i1.2412.