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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2011 Mar 1;102(2):122–126. doi: 10.1007/BF03404160

Perceived Health Status of Francophones and Anglophones in an Officially Bilingual Canadian Province

Mathieu Bélanger 110,210,310,410,✉, Louise Bouchard 510, Isabelle Gaboury 610, Brigitte Sonier 310,710, Isabelle Gagnon-Arpin 510, Aurel Schofield 110,210,410, Paul-Emile Bourque 410
PMCID: PMC6973981  PMID: 21608384

Abstract

Objective: It has been reported that being part of a minority group may be negatively associated with self-perceived health. The objective of this analysis was to determine whether there are differences in perceived health between the Francophone minority and Anglophone majority in New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

Methods: Data from the first four primary cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (2001 to 2007) were obtained for 17,729 New Brunswick residents. Odds of reporting good health among Francophones and Anglophones were compared using multivariate logistic regressions accounting for age, health-related behaviours, socio-demographic variables, and medical conditions.

Results: In the final models, Francophone men and women were less likely than Anglophones to report their health as being good, although these differences were not statistically significant (Odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 0.88, 0.61–1.26; 0.71, 0.49-1.04, in men and women, respectively).

Conclusion: This study suggests that being part of the linguistic minority in New Brunswick is not associated with statistically significant differences in self-perceived health.

Key Words: Minority, language, self-perceived health, disparity

Footnotes

Acknowledgement of support: The analyses were performed in the context of research programs funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Bouchard et al. Les déterminants de la santé des minorités francophones une analyse secondaire de l’ESCC) and the Consortium national de formation en santé, volet Université de Moncton (Bourque et al.).

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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