Table 3.
Characteristics of a patient survey sample
| Demographics | Fraser East, BC (n = 504) | Eastern Ontario Health Unit, ON (n = 547) | Central Zone, NS (n = 878) | Total (n = 1,929) |
| Percentage of overall sample | 26 | 28 | 46 | 100 |
| Gender Percentage female** |
66 | 60 | 71 | 66 |
| Age Mean (SD)** |
56 (18) | 55 (16) | 52 (16) | 54 (17) |
| Percentage ethnicity** § and percentage Indigenous* | ||||
| European descent | 76 | 81 | 80 | 79 |
| Asian | 9 | . | 2 | 3 |
| Indigenous | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Other | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Percentage born outside Canada** | 24 | 8 | 7 | 12 |
| Years living in Canada§ Mean (SD) |
35 (18) | 37 (19) | 32 (23) | 35 (20) |
| Percentage language spoken at home (check all that apply) | ||||
| English** | 95 | 67 | 99 | 89 |
| French** | 1 | 45 | 4 | 15 |
| Other** | 13 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Percentage marital status** | ||||
| Married/co-habitating | 70 | 71 | 61 | 66 |
| Percentage education** | ||||
| Less than high school | 14 | 12 | 7 | 10 |
| High school | 28 | 30 | 19 | 25 |
| Some university or college | 43 | 39 | 40 | 41 |
| Completed undergraduate degree | 11 | 14 | 22 | 17 |
| Graduate degree | 4 | 5 | 12 | 8 |
| Percentage employment status** | ||||
| Full time | 30 | 42 | 40 | 38 |
| Part time | 11 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| Not employed outside the home | 16 | 11 | 15 | 14 |
| Long-term sickness or disability | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Retired | 34 | 30 | 24 | 29 |
| Percentage yearly household income*§ | ||||
| <$5,000–$9,999 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| $10,000–$29,999 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 20 |
| $30,000–$49,999 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 22 |
| $50,000–$79,999 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
| $80,000–$99,999 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 |
| >$100,000 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 17 |
| Percentage best describing your financial situation | ||||
| Poor/very tight | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| Tight | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
| Modestly comfortable | 36 | 34 | 38 | 36 |
| Comfortable/very comfortable | 34 | 37 | 31 | 34 |
| Percentage chronic conditions | ||||
| Depression* | 33 | 30 | 39 | 35 |
| Arthritis | 31 | 28 | 31 | 30 |
| High blood pressure or hypertension | 33 | 34 | 30 | 32 |
| Zero chronic conditions | 13 | 16 | 17 | 15 |
| One chronic condition | 19 | 18 | 20 | 19 |
| Two chronic conditions | 18 | 15 | 14 | 16 |
| Three or more chronic conditions | 51 | 51 | 49 | 50 |
| Percentage health status* | ||||
| Excellent/very good | 29 | 34 | 31 | 31 |
| Good | 40 | 39 | 36 | 38 |
| Fair/poor | 32 | 27 | 34 | 31 |
p < 0.05.
p <0.001.
19% were missing “years in Canada”, 12% were missing for “income” and 11% were missing for “ethnicity” variables. The rest were all <7% missing. Use of healthcare measures were calculated for the subset of patients who consented to linkage and were able to be linked: 487 in Fraser East, BC; 533 in Eastern Ontario Health Unit, ON; and 821 in Central Zone, NS. Chi-squared tests were performed to test for differences in categorical variables between the provinces, and one-way analysis of variance tests were used to test for difference in continuous variables. When expected cell counts were less than five, Fisher's exact test of independence was performed in place of a chi-squared test.