Table 4.
Definition of exposure (financial barriers)
| Healthcare provider or test | ACC_12 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any difficulties getting the specialist care you needed for a diagnosis or consultation? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS |
| ACC_53 | In the past 12 months, did you experience difficulties getting routine care that you or a family member required during « regular » office hours (that is, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday)? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| ACC_55 | In the past 12 months, did you experience difficulties getting routine care that you or a family member required during evenings and weekends (that is, 5:00 to 9:00 pm Monday to Friday, or 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturdays and Sundays)? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| ACC_63 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any difficulties getting the immediate care needed for a minor health problem for yourself or a family member that you required during « regular » office hours (that is, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday)? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| ACC_65 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any difficulties getting the immediate care needed for a minor health problem for yourself or a family member that you required evenings and weekends (that is, 5:00 to 9:00 pm Monday to Friday, or 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturdays and Sundays)? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| ACC_67 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any difficulties getting the immediate care needed for a minor health problem for yourself or a family member that you required during the middle of the night? (Reason: Cost} | CCHS | |
| PCU_56 | What are the reasons that you have not had a check-up in the past 3 years? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| RAH_09 | In the past 12 months, how often did you find it difficult to get healthcare services because you could not travel to the healthcare facility? What types of problems did you experience? (Reason: I can’t afford the cost of travel/I can’t afford to take time off work) | BCPCHC | |
| RAH_18 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any travel-related or other difficulties when trying to see a medical specialist? What types of problems did you experience? (Reason: I can’t afford the cost of travel/I can’t afford to take time off work) | BCPCHC | |
| RAH_09 | In the past 12 months, how often did you find it difficult to get healthcare services because you could not travel to the healthcare facility? What type of problems did you experience? (Reason: I can’t afford the cost of travel, I can’t afford to take time off work, I can’t afford the cost of parking) | BCPCHC | |
| GBC_03 | In the past 12 months, what type of difficulties did you experience getting any healthcare services from your family doctor or general practitioner? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC | |
| GBC_05 | In the past 12 months, what type of difficulties did you experience getting specific care for your chronic condition? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC | |
| WTM_06 | In the past 12 months, did you require a visit to a medical specialist for a diagnosis or a consultation for a new illness or condition? Thinking about this visit, did you experience any difficulties seeing the specialist? What type of difficulty did you experience? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| BPC_16 RC_01C | What are the reasons you have not had your blood pressure taken in the past 2 years? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS BCPCHC | |
| RC_02B | What are the reasons you have not had your cholesterol measurement taken in the past year? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC | |
| RC_03B | What are the reasons you have not had your blood sugar taken in the past year? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC | |
| ACC_32 | In the past 12 months, did you ever experience any difficulties getting the tests you needed? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| WTM_37 | In the past 12 months, did you require a diagnostic test? Did you experience any difficulties getting this test? What type of difficulty did you experience (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| EYX_142 | When did you last have an eye examination? What are the reasons that you have not had an eye examination in the past 2 years? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| DEN_132 | When was the last time that you went to a dentist? What are the reasons that you have not been to a dentist in the past 3 years? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| Medication | PDE_02 | In the past 12 months, did you decide not to fill a new prescription for medication because of the cost? (Yes) | PDERR |
| PDE_03 | In the past 12 months, did you decide not to renew a prescription for medication because of the cost? (Yes) | PDERR | |
| PDE_04 | In the past 12 months, because of the cost, did you do anything to make a prescription medication last longer? (Yes) | PDERR | |
| MEH_05 | What are the reasons that you are not currently taking any prescription medications for your high blood pressure? (Reason: Cost) | SLCDC | |
| MU_05 | Over the past 12 months, have you ever stopped taking one or more of your drugs as prescribed for a week or more? What are the reasons that you did not take your medication as prescribed? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC | |
| INS_03 | Do you currently have insurance that covers all or part of the cost of prescription medications? Why not? (Reason: I can’t afford coverage) | BCPCHC | |
| Home care | HMC_15 CR1_04 | During the past 12 months, was there ever a time when you felt that you needed home care services but you didn’t receive them? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS |
| Unmet need | EBC_01 | In the past 12 months, how often have you had difficulty paying for services, equipment or medications you need to help you manage your chronic condition? (Always, often, sometimes) | BCPCHC |
| HCU_06 UCN_01 | During the past 12 months, was there ever a time when you felt that you needed healthcare, but you didn’t receive it? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| Healthful food | FIN_01 | In the past 12 months, how often did you or anyone else in your household worry that there would not be enough to eat because of a lack of money? (Often, sometimes) | CCHS |
| FIN_02 | In the past 12 months, how often did you or anyone else in your household not have enough food to eat because of a lack of money? (Often, sometimes) | CCHS | |
| FIN_03 | In the past 12 months, how often did you or anyone else in your household not eat the quality or variety of foods that you wanted to eat because of a lack of money? (Often, sometimes) | CCHS | |
| FSC_10 | Which of the following statements best describes the food eaten in your household in the past 12 months? (Sometimes did not have enough, often did not have enough) | CCHS | |
| FSC_20 | You and other household members worried that food would run out before you got money to buy more. Was that often true, sometimes true or never true in the past 12 months? (Often true, sometimes true) | CCHS | |
| FSC_30 | The food that you and other household members bought just didn’t last, and there wasn’t any money to get more. Was that often true, sometimes true or never true in the past 12 months? (Often true, sometimes true) | CCHS | |
| FSC_50 | You or other adults in your household relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed the children because you were running out of money to buy food. Was that often true, sometimes true or never true in the past 12 months? (Often true, sometimes true) | CCHS | |
| FSC_80 | In the past 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes) | CCHS | |
| FSC_90 | In the past 12 months, did you (personally) ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money to buy food? (Yes) | CCHS | |
| FSC_100 | In the past 12 months, were you (personally) ever hungry but didn’t eat because you couldn’t afford enough food? (Yes) | CCHS | |
| FSC_110 | In the past 12 months, did you (personally) lose weight because you didn’t have enough money for food? (Yes) | CCHS | |
| FSC_120 | In the past 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes) | CCHS | |
| SMH_04 SMH_02 | What are the reasons you are not limiting your daily salt intake? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC SLCDC | |
| SMH_08 SMH_04 | What are the reasons you are not choosing these types of foods (that is, fruits and vegetables, fish or lean meats, foods high in fibre or foods low in fat)? (Reason: Cost) | BCPCHC SLCDC1 | |
| SMD_02 | What are the reasons you do not change the type or amount of food you eat to help control your diabetes? (Reason: Cost) | SLCDC2 | |
| Health behaviour modification | SMH_08 SMD_04 SMH_10 | What are the reasons that you are not exercising or participating in physical activities? (Reason: Cost) | SLCDC1 SLCDC2 BCPCHC |
| PA2_13 | What prevented you from doing more physical activities? (Reason: Cost) | CCHS | |
| SMH_10 SMD_06 SMH_21 | What are the reasons that you are not trying to control your weight or lose weight? (Reason: Cost) | SLCDC1 SLCDC2 BCPCHC | |
| SMH_17 | What are the reasons that you are not trying to quit smoking or cut down on smoking (Reason: Cost of smoking cessation products) | BCPCHC |
CCHS Canadian Community Health Survey
BCPCHC Barriers to Care for Persons with Chronic Health Conditions (2012)
SLCDC1 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada (hypertension component) (2009)
SLCDC2 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada (diabetes component) (2011)
PDERR Rapid Response Module on Prescription Drug Expenditures (2007)