Disaggregating Canadian immigrant smoking behaviour by country of birth.

As of the 2006 census, nearly one fifth of Canada's population was foreign-born. With such a sizeable and fast-growing immigrant population, research in immigrant health in Canada is increasingly important, including research on the smoking behaviours of Canada's immigrants. Research has shown that immigrants are significantly less likely to smoke than non-immigrants, yet differences by immigrant origins have yet to be fully explored. This paper explores smoking prevalence and cessation amongst immigrants in Canada disaggregated by country of birth. Additionally, it examines the impact of neighbourhood level effects on smoking cessation to determine if residential location has an impact on the likelihood of quitting. Results reveal important heterogeneities previously unseen in studies employing aggregate data. While immigrants in general were less likely to smoke than non-immigrants, and are also more likely to quit than non-immigrants, considerable variation exists between immigrant groups defined by origin region or country. Asian immigrants were the least likely to smoke but exhibited the greatest variation between countries of origin. Vietnamese men were found to be the most likely immigrant group to smoke and among the least likely to quit. While neighbourhood disadvantage was negatively associated with quitting smoking, it is not as important as individual socioeconomic characteristics in explaining variations in smoking cessation. The research illustrates the need for disaggregated data to account for the diversity of Canada's immigrant population.

From policy to practice: assessing the impact of staging policies for recording cancer stage across Canada.

In 1998, a survey of all hospitals in Canada by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of Canada found that only 17% reported that stage was routinely recorded. Closely following the methodology of the 1998 study, an online questionnaire was sent to the chief executive officer of 201 institutions in Canada. Since the study in 1998, it was found that the staging rate in Canada has significantly increased from 17 to 36%. The implementation of a staging policy has had a significant impact on the practices of recording stage, but further policy initiatives, education and communication are required to improve institutional staging practices.