Physical environment features that predict outdoor active play can be measured using Google Street View images.

BACKGROUND: Childrens' outdoor active play is an important part of their development. Play behaviour can be predicted by a variety of physical and social environmental features. Some of these features are difficult to measure with traditional data sources. METHODS: This study investigated the viability of a machine learning method using Google Street View images for measurement of these environmental features. Models to measure natural features, pedestrian traffic, vehicle traffic, bicycle traffic, traffic signals, and sidewalks were developed in one city and tested in another. RESULTS: The models performed well for features that are time invariant, but poorly for features that change over time, especially when tested outside of the context where they were initially trained. CONCLUSION: This method provides a potential automated data source for the development of prediction models for a variety of physical and social environment features using publicly accessible street view images.

Neighborhood Greenspace and Socioeconomic Risk are Associated with Diabetes Risk at the Sub-neighborhood Scale: Results from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study.

Greenspace and socioeconomic status are known correlates of diabetes prevalence, but their combined effects at the sub-neighborhood scale are not yet known. This study derives, maps, and validates a combined socioeconomic/greenspace index of individual-level diabetes risk at the sub-neighborhood scale, without the need for clinical measurements. In two Canadian cities (Vancouver and Hamilton), we computed 4 greenspace variables from satellite imagery and extracted 11 socioeconomic variables from the Canadian census. We mapped 5125 participants from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology Study by their residential address and used age- and sex-dependent walking speeds to estimate individual exposure zones to local greenspace and socioeconomic characteristics, which were then entered into a principal component analysis to derive a novel diabetes risk index (DRI-GLUCoSE). We mapped index scores in both study areas and validated the index using fully adjusted logistic regression models to predict individual diabetes status. Model performance was then compared to other non-clinical diabetes risk indices from the literature. Diabetes prevalence among participants was 9.9%. The DRI-GLUCoSE index was a significant predictor of diabetes status, exhibiting a small non-significant attenuation with the inclusion of dietary and physical activity variables. The final models achieved a predictive accuracy of 75%, the highest among environmental risk models to date. Our combined index of local greenspace and socioeconomic factors demonstrates that the environmental component of diabetes risk is not sufficiently explained by diet and physical activity, and that increasing urban greenspace may be a suitable means of reducing the burden of diabetes at the community scale.

Socioeconomic status does not influence the presentation of patients with inguinal hernia at an urban Canadian teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to influence the outcomes of surgical pathologies in areas with unequal access to health care. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of SES on the urgency for inguinal hernia repair in an area with purported equitable access to health care in the context of a universal health care system. METHODS: We included all adult patients who underwent surgical management of an inguinal hernia between 2012 and 2016 at 2 urban academic centres. We measured the SES using the Vancouver Area Neighbourhood Deprivation Index (VANDIX) score. RESULTS: We included 2336 patients: 98 emergency surgery and 294 elective surgery cases. We matched patients without replacement on age, sex and American Society of Anesthesiology score, using optimized propensity score matching at a ratio of 1 case to 3 controls. We found no significant correlation between lower SES and emergency surgical management (p = 0.122). Secondary analysis assessed the impact of SES on morbidity and length of stay. We found no significant difference in the rate of complications, length of stay and recurrence by SES category. Patients from lower SES brackets had increased odds for readmission (odds ratio 1.979; 95% confidence interval 1.111-4.318). CONCLUSION: We found no correlation between a low SES and the need for emergency inguinal hernia repair, but found an increased rate of readmission in patients from lower SES brackets. This finding should be further scrutinized through a deeper dive into the barriers to access to nonacute care settings, such as home care.

Street masking: a network-based geographic mask for easily protecting geoprivacy.

BACKGROUND: Geographic masks are techniques used to protect individual privacy in published maps but are highly under-utilized in research. This leads to continual violations of individual privacy, as sensitive health records are put at risk in unmasked maps. New approaches to geographic masking are required that foster accessibility and ease of use, such that they become more widely adopted. This article describes a new geographic masking method, called street masking, that reduces the burden on users of finding supplemental population data by instead automatically retrieving OpenStreetMap data and using the road network as a basis for masking. We compare it to donut geomasking, both with and without population density taken into account, to evaluate its efficacy against geographic masks that require slightly less and slightly more supplemental data. Our analysis is performed on synthetic data in three different Canadian cities. RESULTS: Street masking performs similarly to population-based donut geomasking with regard to privacy protection, achieving comparable k-anonymity values at similar median displacement distances. As expected, distance-based donut geomasking performs worst at privacy protection. Street masking also performs very well regarding information loss, achieving far better cluster preservation and landcover agreement than population-based donut geomasking. Distance-based donut geomasking performs similarly to street masking, though at the cost of reduced privacy protection. CONCLUSION: Street masking competes with, if not out-performs population-based donut geomasking and does so without requiring any supplemental data from users. Moreover, unlike most other geographic masks, it significantly minimizes the risk of false attribution and inherently takes many geographic barriers into account. It is easily accessible for Python users and provides the foundation for interfaces to be built for non-coding users, such that privacy can be better protected in sensitive geospatial research.

Where to enhance rural palliative care? Developing a spatial model to identify suitable communities most in need of service enhancement.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, access to palliative care is a growing concern, particularly in rural communities. These communities have constrained health care services and accessing local palliative care can be challenging. The Site Suitability Model (SSM) was developed to identify rural "candidate" communities with need for palliative care services and existing health service capacity that could be enhanced to support a secondary palliative care hub. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of implementing the SSM in Ontario by generating a ranked summary of rural "candidate" communities as potential secondary palliative care hubs. METHODS: Using Census data combined with community-level data, the SSM was applied to assess the suitability of 12 communities as rural secondary palliative care hubs. Scores from 0 to 1 were generated for four equally-weighted components: (1) population as the total population living within a 1-h drive of a candidate community; (2) isolation as travel time from that community to the nearest community with palliative care services; (3) vulnerability as community need based on a palliative care index score; and (4) community readiness as five dimensions of fit between a candidate community and a secondary palliative care hub. Component scores were summed for the SSM score and adjusted to range from 0 to 1. RESULTS: Population scores for the 12 communities ranged widely (0.19-1.00), as did isolation scores (0.16-0.94). Vulnerability scores ranged more narrowly (0.27-0.35), while community readiness scores ranged from 0.4-1.0. These component scores revealed information about each community's particular strengths and weaknesses. Final SSM scores ranged from a low of 0.33 to a high of 0.76. CONCLUSIONS: The SSM was readily implemented in Ontario. Final scores generated a ranked list based on the relative suitability of candidate communities to become secondary palliative care hubs. This list provides information for policy makers to make allocation decisions regarding rural palliative services. The calculation of each community's scores also generates information for local policy makers about how best to provide these services within their communities. The multi-factorial structure of the model enables decision makers to adapt the relative weights of its components.

What Medical Crowdfunding Campaigns Can Tell Us About Local Health System Gaps and Deficiencies: Exploratory Analysis of British Columbia, Canada.

BACKGROUND: There are a range of perceived gaps and shortcomings in the publicly funded Canadian health system. These include wait times for care, lack of public insurance coverage for dental care and pharmaceuticals, and difficulties accessing specialist care. Medical crowdfunding is a response to these gaps where individuals raise funds from their social networks to address health-related needs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the potential of crowdfunding data to better understand what health-related needs individuals are using crowdfunding for, how these needs compare with the existing commentary on health system deficiencies, and the advantages and limitations of using crowdfunding campaigns to enhance or augment our understanding of perceived health system deficiencies. METHODS: Crowdfunding campaigns were scraped from the GoFundMe website. These campaigns were then limited to those originating in the metropolitan Vancouver region of two health authorities during 2018. These campaigns were then further limited to those raising funds to allow the treatment of a medical problem or related to needs arising from ill health. These campaigns were then reviewed to identify the underlying health issue and motivation for pursuing crowdfunding. RESULTS: We identified 423 campaigns for health-related needs. These campaigns requested CAD $8,715,806 (US $6,088,078) in funding and were pledged CAD $3,477,384 (US $2,428,987) from 27,773 donors. The most common underlying medical condition for campaign recipients was cancer, followed by traumatic injuries from collisions and brain injury and stroke. By far, the most common factor of motivation for crowdfunding was seeking financial support for wages lost because of illness (232/684, 33.9%). Some campaigns (65/684, 9.5%) sought help with purchasing medical equipment and supplies; 8.2% (56/684) sought to fund complementary, alternative, or unproven treatments including experimental interventions; 7.2% (49/684) sought financial support to cover travel-related costs, including in-province and out-of-province (49/684, 7.2%) travel; and 6.3% (43/684) campaigns sought help to pay for medication. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis demonstrates the potential of crowdfunding data to present timely and context-specific user-created insights into the perceived health-related financial needs of some Canadians. Although the literature on perceived limitations of the Canadian health system focuses on wait times for care and limited access to specialist services, among other issues, these campaigners were much more motivated by gaps in the wider social system such as costs related to unpaid time off work and travel to access care. Our findings demonstrate spatial differences in the underlying medical problems, motivations for crowdfunding, and success using crowdfunding that warrants additional attention. These differences may support established concerns that medical crowdfunding is most commonly used by individuals from relatively privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. We encourage the development of new resources to harness the power of crowdfunding data as a supplementary source of information for Canadian health system stakeholders.

Effect of predicted travel time to trauma care on mortality in major trauma patients in Nova Scotia

Background: Trauma is a leading contributor to the burden of disease in Canada, accounting for more than 15 000 deaths annually. Although caring for injured patients at designated trauma centres (TCs) is consistently associated with survival benefits, it is unclear how travel time to definitive care influences outcomes. Using a population-based sample of trauma patients, we studied the association between predicted travel time (PTT) to TCs and mortality for patients assigned to ground transport. Methods: Victims of penetrating trauma or motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in Nova Scotia between 2005 and 2014 were identified from a provincial trauma registry. We conducted cost distance analyses to quantify PTT for each injury location to the nearest TC. Adjusted associations between TC access and injury-related mortality were then estimated using logistic regression. Results: Greater than 30 minutes of PTT to a TC was associated with a 66% increased risk of death for MVC victims (p = 0.045). This association was lost when scene deaths were excluded from the analysis. Sustaining a penetrating trauma greater than 30 minutes from a TC was associated with a 3.4-fold increase in risk of death. Following the exclusion of scene deaths, this association remained and approached significance (odds ratio 3.48, 95% confidence interval 0.98­14.5, p = 0.053). Conclusion: Predicted travel times greater than 30 minutes were associated with worse outcomes for victims of MVCs and penetrating injuries. Improving communication across the trauma system and reducing prehospital times may help optimize outcomes for rural trauma patients.

Contexte: Les traumatismes contribuent pour une bonne part au fardeau de la maladie au Canada; on leur attribue plus de 15 000 décès annuellement. Même si les soins prodigués aux patients victimes de traumatismes dans les centres de traumatologie désignés (CTD) sont toujours associés à des gains au plan de la survie, on ignore quelle est l'influence du temps de transfert vers le CTD sur l'issue. À partir d'un échantillon de patients polytraumatisés basé dans la population, nous avons analysé le lien entre le temps de transfert prévu (TTP) vers le CTD et la mortalité des patients transportés par voie terrestre. Méthodes: On a identifié les victimes de traumatismes pénétrants ou d'accidents de la route en Nouvelle-Écosse entre 2005 et 2014 à partir d'un registre provincial de traumatologie. Nous avons analysé la distance de coût pour quantifier le TTP à partir de chaque scène vers le CTD le plus proche. Les liens ajustés entre l'accès au CTD et la mortalité liée au traumatisme ont ensuite été estimés par régression logistique. Résultats: Un délai de TTP de plus de 30 minutes pour arriver au CTD a été associé à un accroissement de 66 % du risque de décès chez les patients polytraumatisés (p = 0,045). Ce lien s'annulait si on excluait de l'analyse les décès survenus sur la scène de l'accident. Subir un traumatisme ouvert à plus de 30 minutes de distance d'un CTD a été associé à une augmentation par un facteur de 3,4 du risque de décès. Une fois les décès sur la scène de l'accident exclus, ce lien a persisté et s'est rapproché du seuil de signification (rapport des cotes 3,48, intervalle de confiance de 95 % 0,98­14,5, p = 0,053). Conclusion: Des temps de transfert prévus supérieurs à 30 minutes ont été associés une issue plus défavorable pour les victimes d'accidents de la route et de traumatismes pénétrants. L'amélioration de la communication entre les divers éléments du système de traumatologie et la réduction du temps préhospitalier pourrait optimiser l'issue pour les patients victimes de traumatismes en région rurale.

Development and validation of a multi-domain multimorbidity resilience index for an older population: results from the baseline Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

BACKGROUND: Multimorbidity is recognized as a major public health issue that increases with age and affects approximately two-thirds of older people in Canada, the US, Australia and many European countries. This study develops and tests a three domain (functional, social and psychological) multimorbidity resilience composite index based on a previously developed lifecourse model of multimorbidity resilience, incorporating measures of adversity and positive adaptation. The criterion validity of the measure is demonstrated by means of an analysis of key outcome variables drawn from the literature. METHODS: We used the baseline data from the Comprehensive Cohort of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Associations of functional, social, psychological as well as total resilience with two health utilization and three illness context outcome variables were examined using logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, gender, marital status, income, education, region, and number of chronic conditions. RESULTS: The sample included all 6771 Canadian adults aged 65 or older (mean age 73.0, 57% women) who reported two or more of 27 possible chronic conditions. Total resilience was associated with: perceived health (OR = 1.68, CI 1.59-1.77); sleep quality (OR = 1.34, CI 1.30-1.38); perceived pain (OR = 0.80, CI 0.77-0.83); hospital overnight stays (OR = 0.87, CI 0.83-0.91); and emergency department visits (OR = 0.90, CI 0.87-0.94)., after adjusting for socio-demographic factors, and number of chronic conditions. These associations were similar for the unadjusted models, as well as for the functional, social and psychological resilience sub-indices. CONCLUSIONS: Combining components of adversity and positive adaptation within functional, social and psychological domains produces a measure of multimorbidity resilience that is associated with more positive health outcomes. Several implications of a composite multimorbidity resilience measure for clinical practice are identified. This measure can be replicated using measures found in other secondary health data sets. Future validation using longitudinal data is warranted.

Seasonal variation in geographical access to maternal health services in regions of southern Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Geographic proximity to health facilities is a known determinant of access to maternal care. Methods of quantifying geographical access to care have largely ignored the impact of precipitation and flooding. Further, travel has largely been imagined as unimodal where one transport mode is used for entire journeys to seek care. This study proposes a new approach for modeling potential spatio-temporal access by evaluating the impact of precipitation and floods on access to maternal health services using multiple transport modes, in southern Mozambique. METHODS: A facility assessment was used to classify 56 health centres. GPS coordinates of the health facilities were acquired from the Ministry of Health while roads were digitized and classified from high-resolution satellite images. Data on the geographic distribution of populations of women of reproductive age, pregnancies and births within the preceding 12 months, and transport options available to pregnant women were collected from a household census. Daily precipitation and flood data were used to model the impact of severe weather on access for a 17-month timeline. Travel times to the nearest health facilities were calculated using the closest facility tool in ArcGIS software. RESULTS: Forty-six and 87 percent of pregnant women lived within a 1-h of the nearest primary care centre using walking or public transport modes respectively. The populations within these catchments dropped by 9 and 5% respectively at the peak of the wet season. For journeys that would have commenced with walking to primary facilities, 64% of women lived within 2 h of life-saving care, while for those that began journeys with public transport, the same 2-hour catchment would have contained 95% of the women population. The population of women within two hours of life-saving care dropped by 9% for secondary facilities and 18% for tertiary facilities during the wet season. CONCLUSIONS: Seasonal variation in access to maternal care should not be imagined through a dichotomous and static lens of wet and dry seasons, as access continually fluctuates in both. This new approach for modelling spatio-temporal access allows for the GIS output to be utilized not only for health services planning, but also to aid near real time community-level delivery of maternal health services.

Socioeconomic disparities in head and neck cancer patients' access to cancer treatment centers.

INTRODUCTION: Both socioeconomic status and travel time to cancer treatment have been associated with treatment choice and patient outcomes. An improved understanding of the relationship between these two dimensions of access may enable cancer control experts to better target patients with poor access, particularly in isolated suburban and rural communities. METHODS: Using geographical information systems, head and neck cancer patients across British Columbia, Canada from 1981 to 2009, were mapped and their travel times to the nearest treatment center at their time of diagnosis were modelled. Patients' travel times were analysed by urban, suburban, and rural neighborhood types and an index of multiple socioeconomic deprivation was used to assess the role of socioeconomic status in patients' spatial access. RESULTS: Significant associations between socioeconomic deprivation and spatial access to treatment were identified, with the most deprived quintiles of patients experiencing nearly twice the travel time as the least deprived quintile. The sharpest disparities were observed among the most deprived patient populations in suburban and rural areas. However, the establishment of new treatment centers has decreased overall travel times by 28% in recent decades. CONCLUSIONS: Residence in a neighborhood with high socioeconomic deprivation is strongly associated with head and neck cancer patients' spatial access to cancer treatment centers. Patients residing in the most socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods consistently have longer travel times in urban, suburban, and rural communities in the study area.

Socio-economic deprivation: a significant determinant affecting stage of oral cancer diagnosis and survival.

BACKGROUND: Many factors contribute to socioeconomic status (SES), yet in most survival studies only income is used as a measure for determining SES. We used a complex, composite, census-based metric for socioeconomic deprivation to better distinguish individuals with lower SES and assess its impact on survival and staging trends of oral cancers. METHODS: Oropharyngeal (OPC) and oral cavity cancer (OCC) cases were identified from the British Columbia cancer registry between 1981-2009 and placed into affluent and deprived neighborhoods using postal codes linked to VANDIX (a composite SES index based on 7 census variables encompassing income, housing, family structure, education, and employment). Stage and cancer-specific survival rates were examined by sex, SES, and time period. RESULTS: Approximately 50 % of OPC and OCC cases of both sexes resided in SES deprived neighborhoods. Numbers of cases have increased in recent years for all but OCC in men. The deprivation gap in survival between affluent and deprived neighborhoods widened in recent years for OPC and OCC in men, while decreasing for OPC and increasing slightly for OCC in women. Greater proportions of OCC cases were diagnosed at later stage disease for both sexes residing in deprived neighborhoods, a trend not seen for OPC. CONCLUSION: SES remains a significant independent determinant of survival for both OPC and OCC when using a composite metric for SES. OPC survival rates among men have improved, albeit at slower rates in deprived communities. OCC screening programs need to be targeted towards SES-deprived neighborhoods where greater proportions of cases were diagnosed at a later stage and survival rates have significantly worsened in both sexes.

Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in the Maritimes: examining the waves of change over time.

BACKGROUND: Changing patterns of referral and management of pediatric surgical conditions, including hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS), have recently been described and often relate to comfort with early nonoperative management, anesthesia and corrective surgery. Travelling distance required for treatment at pediatric centres can also be burdensome for families. We assessed referral patterns for HPS in the maritime provinces of Canada over 10 years to quantify the burden on families travelling for surgical care. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of all patients with HPS in the Maritimes. Length of hospital stay (LOS) and complication rates were analyzed in regards to resuscitation and management at a pediatric centre and/or peripheral centres. We used postal codes for each patient to track distance travelled for management. RESULTS: We assessed 751 cases of HPS. During the study period (Jan. 1, 2001-Dec. 31, 2010), referral to pediatric centres increased from 49% to 71%. Postoperative complications were 2.5-fold higher in peripheral centres. Infants referred to pediatric centres were 78% less likely to have an LOS longer than 3 days. Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy, which was performed only in pediatric centres, was associated with a shorter postoperative LOS. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the current literature demonstrating improved outcomes, shorter overall LOS and decreased risk of complications when infants with HPS are treated in pediatric centres. This should be considered when planning access to pediatric surgical resources.

CONTEXTE: Une évolution des tendances dans les pratiques d'orientation des patients et de prise en charge des affections pédiatriques nécessitant une intervention chirurgicale, telles que la sténose hypertrophique du pylore (SHP), a récemment été décrite; elle dépend souvent du degré d'acceptation de la prise en charge non chirurgicale précoce, de l'anesthésie et de la chirurgie correctrice. Le traitement en centre pédiatrique peut exiger des déplacements pénibles pour les familles. Nous avons évalué les pratiques d'orientation des cas de SHP dans les provinces maritimes du Canada sur une période de 10 ans pour quantifier l'ampleur du fardeau qui incombe aux familles devant voyager pour obtenir des soins chirurgicaux. MÉTHODES: Nous avons étudié le dossier de tous les patients atteints de SHP dans les Maritimes et avons comparé la durée de séjour et le taux de complications associés à la réanimation et à la prise en charge dans les centres pédiatriques et les centres périphériques. Nous avons aussi utilisé les codes postaux des patients pour déterminer la distance de déplacement des familles. RÉSULTATS: Nous avons analysé 751 cas de SHP. Pendant la période à l'étude (2001­2010), le taux d'orientation des patients vers les centres pédiatriques est passé de 49 % à 71 %. Les complications postopératoires étaient 2,5 fois plus courantes dans les centres périphériques, et les séjours de plus de 3 jours étaient 78 % moins fréquents chez les nourrissons traités en centre pédiatrique. La pyloromyotomie par laparoscopie, réalisée dans les centres pédiatriques seulement, a été associée à une réduction de la durée de séjour postopératoire. CONCLUSION: Notre étude va dans le même sens que la littérature actuelle, qui indique que le traitement des nourrissons atteints de SHP en centre pédiatrique est associé à de meilleurs résultats postchirurgicaux, à une durée d'hospitalisation moins longue et à un risque de complications plus faible que le traitement dans un centre périphérique. Ces résultats devraient être pris en compte dans la planification de l'accès aux ressources dans le domaine de la chirurgie pédiatrique.

A geospatial analysis of the relationship between neighbourhood socioeconomic status and adult severe injury in Greater Vancouver.

BACKGROUND: Every year, injuries cost the Canadian healthcare system billions of dollars and result in thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalisations and deaths. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) and the rates of all-cause, unintentional and intentional severe injury in Greater Vancouver adults. A second objective was to determine whether the identified associations were spatially consistent or non-stationary. METHODS: Severe injury cases occurring between 2001 and 2006 were identified using the British Columbia's Coroner's Service records and the British Columbia Trauma Registry, and mapped by census dissemination areas using a geographical information system. Descriptive statistics and exploratory spatial data analysis methods were used to gain a better understanding of the data sets and to explore the relationship between the rates of severe injury and two measures of NSES (social and material deprivation). Ordinary least squares and geographically weighted regression were used to model these relationships at the global and local levels. RESULTS: Inverse relationships were identified between both measures of NSES and the rates of severe injury with the strongest associations located in Greater Vancouver's most socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods. Social deprivation was found to have a slightly stronger relationship with the rates of severe injury than material deprivation. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that policies and programmes aimed at reducing the burden of severe injury in Greater Vancouver should take into account social and material deprivation, and should target the most socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods in Greater Vancouver.

Suburbanisation of oral cavity cancers: evidence from a geographically-explicit observational study of incidence trends in British Columbia, Canada, 1981-2010.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated an elevated risk of oral cavity cancers (OCC) among socioeconomically deprived populations, whose increasing presence in suburban neighbourhoods poses unique challenges for equitable health service delivery. The majority of studies to date have utilised aspatial methods to identify OCC. In this study, we use high-resolution geographical analyses to identify spatio-temporal trends in OCC incidence, emphasising the value of geospatial methods for public health research. METHODS: Using province-wide population incidence data from the British Columbia Cancer Registry (1981-2009, N = 5473), we classify OCC cases by census-derived neighbourhood types to differentiate between urban, suburban, and rural residents at the time of diagnosis. We map geographical concentrations by decade and contrast trends in age-adjusted incidence rates, comparing the results to an index of socioeconomic deprivation. RESULTS: Suburban cases were found to comprise a growing proportion of OCC incidence. In effect, OCC concentrations have dispersed from dense urban cores to suburban neighbourhoods in recent decades. Significantly higher age-adjusted oral cancer incidence rates are observed in suburban neighbourhoods from 2006 to 2009, accompanied by rising socioeconomic deprivation in those areas. New suburban concentrations of incidence were found in neighbourhoods with a high proportion of persons aged 65+ and/or born in India, China, or Taiwan. CONCLUSIONS: While the aging of suburban populations provides some explanation of these trends, we highlight the role of the suburbanisation of socioeconomically deprived and Asia-born populations, known to have higher rates of risk behaviours such as tobacco, alcohol, and betel/areca consumption. Specifically, betel/areca consumption among Asia-born populations is suspected to be a primary driver of the observed geographical shift in incidence from urban cores to suburban neighbourhoods. We suggest that such geographically-informed findings are complementary to potential and existing place-specific cancer control policy and targeting prevention efforts for high-risk sub-populations, and call for the supplementation of epidemiological studies with high-resolution mapping and geospatial analysis.

A comparative analysis of potential spatio-temporal access to palliative care services in two Canadian provinces.

BACKGROUND: Access to health services such as palliative care is determined not only by health policy but a number of legacies linked to geography and settlement patterns. We use GIS to calculate potential spatio-temporal access to palliative care services. In addition, we combine qualitative data with spatial analysis to develop a unique mixed-methods approach. METHODS: Inpatient health care facilities with dedicated palliative care beds were sampled in two Canadian provinces: Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. We then calculated one-hour travel time catchments to palliative health services and extended the spatial model to integrate available beds as well as documented wait times. RESULTS: 26 facilities with dedicated palliative care beds in Newfoundland and 69 in Saskatchewan were identified. Spatial analysis of one-hour travel times and palliative beds per 100,000 population in each province showed distinctly different geographical patterns. In Saskatchewan, 96.7% of the population living within a-1 h of drive to a designated palliative care bed. In Newfoundland, 93.2% of the population aged 65+ were living within a-1 h of drive to a designated palliative care bed. However, when the relationship between wait time and bed availability was examined for each facility within these two provinces, the relationship was found to be weak in Newfoundland (R(2) = 0.26) and virtually nonexistent in Saskatchewan (R(2) = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our spatial analysis shows that when wait times are incorporated as a way to understand potential spatio-temporal access to dedicated palliative care beds, as opposed to spatial access alone, the picture of access changes.

Population-based incidence trends of oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancers by sex among the poorest and underprivileged populations.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer is an important health issue, with changing incidence in many countries. Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC, in tonsil and oropharygeal areas) is increasing, while oral cavity cancer (OCC, other sites in the mouth) is decreasing. There is the need to identify high risk groups and communities for further study and intervention. The objective of this study was to determine how the incidence of OPC and OCC varied by neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) in British Columbia (BC), including the magnitude of any inequalities and temporal trends. METHODS: ICDO-3 codes were used to identify OPC and OCC cases in the BC Cancer Registry from 1981-2010. Cases were categorized by postal codes into SES quintiles (q1-q5) using VANDIX, which is a census-based, multivariate weighted index based on neighbourhood average household income, housing tenure, educational attainment, employment and family structure. Age-standardized incidence rates were determined for OPC and OCC by sex and SES quintiles and temporal trends were then examined. RESULTS: Incidence rates are increasing in both men and women for OPC, and decreasing in men and increasing in women for OCC. This change is not linear or proportionate between different SES quintiles, for there is a sharp and dramatic increase in incidence according to the deprivation status of the neighbourhood. The highest incidence rates in men for both OPC and OCC were observed in the most deprived SES quintile (q5), at 1.7 times and 2.2 times higher, respectively, than men in the least deprived quintile (q1). For OPC, the age-adjusted incidence rates significantly increased in all SES quintiles with the highest increase observed in the most deprived quintile (q5). Likewise, the highest incidence rates for both OPC and OCC in women were observed in the most deprived SES quintile (q5), at 2.1 times and 1.8 times higher, respectively, than women in the least deprived quintile (q1). CONCLUSION: We report on SES disparities in oral cancer, emphasizing the need for community-based interventions that address access to medical care and the distribution of educational and health promotion resources among the most SES deprived communities in British Columbia.

Reduction in fatalities, ambulance calls, and hospital admissions for road trauma after implementation of new traffic laws.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the public health benefits of traffic laws targeting speeding and drunk drivers (British Columbia, Canada, September 2010). METHODS: We studied fatal crashes and ambulance dispatches and hospital admissions for road trauma, using interrupted time series with multiple nonequivalent comparison series. We determined estimates of effect using linear regression models incorporating an autoregressive integrated moving average error term. We used neighboring jurisdictions (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington State) as external controls. RESULTS: In the 2 years after implementation of the new laws, significant decreases occurred in fatal crashes (21.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI]=15.3, 26.4) and in hospital admissions (8.0%; 95% CI=0.6, 14.9) and ambulance calls (7.2%; 95% CI=1.1, 13.0) for road trauma. We found a very large reduction in alcohol-related fatal crashes (52.0%; 95% CI=34.5, 69.5), and the benefits of the new laws are likely primarily the result of a reduction in drinking and driving. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that laws calling for immediate sanctions for dangerous drivers can reduce road trauma and should be supported.

Environmental Preferences and Concerns of Recreational Trail Runners.

Trail running is a fast-growing sport, linked to improvements in both physical and psychological well-being. Despite its popularity, the preferences of trail runners are not well known. The objective of this study was to examine the environmental preferences and concerns of trail runners with respect to age and gender. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of recreational trail runners. A total of 548 people responded, of which 50.1% of respondents were women and 44.2% were men. The sample was distributed relatively evenly across age groups, up to 54 years; respondents over 55 represented only 9.4% of the sample. Comparisons of runner characteristics by gender indicated significant differences (p < 0.05) according to age, distance run per week, and number of days run per week. Certain runner preferences also differed significantly by gender, including importance of running around others, the type of trail races they seek, and whether or not they like to seek "vert" or elevation in their runs. Major concerns for both genders while running included lack of cell reception (Men: 33.8%; Women: 50.8%) and getting lost (Men: 26.8%; Women: 35.5%). Comparisons of the results of this study help to strengthen our understanding of trail runners' environmental preferences and concerns and can be used to guide future design and maintenance of trail environments to encourage greater participation in the sport.

Association of supermarket characteristics with the body mass index of their shoppers.

BACKGROUND: Research on the built food environment and weight status has mostly focused on the presence/absence of food outlets while ignoring their internal features or where residents actually shop. We explored associations of distance travelled to supermarkets and supermarket characteristics with shoppers' body mass index (BMI). METHODS: Shoppers (n=555) of five supermarkets situated in different income areas in the city were surveyed for food shopping habits, demographics, home postal code, height and weight. Associations of minimum distance to a supermarket (along road network, objectively measured using ArcGIS), its size, food variety and food basket price with shoppers' BMI were investigated. The 'food basket' was defined as the mixture of several food items commonly consumed by residents and available in all supermarkets. RESULTS: Supermarkets ranged in total floor space (7500-135,000 square feet) and had similar varieties of fruits, vegetables and cereals. The majority of participants shopped at the surveyed supermarket more than once per week (mean range 1.2 ± 0.8 to 2.3 ± 2.1 times per week across the five supermarkets, p < 0.001), and identified it as their primary store for food (52% overall). Mean participant BMI of the five supermarkets ranged from 23.7 ± 4.3 kg/m² to 27.1 ± 4.3 kg/m² (p < 0.001). Median minimum distance from the shoppers' residence to the supermarket they shopped at ranged from 0.96 (0.57, 2.31) km to 4.30 (2.83, 5.75) km (p < 0.001). A negative association was found between food basket price and BMI. There were no associations between BMI and minimum distance to the supermarket, or other supermarket characteristics. After adjusting for age, sex, dissemination area median individual income and car ownership, BMI of individuals who shopped at Store 1 and Store 2, the supermarkets with lowest price of the 'food basket', was 3.66 kg/m² and 3.73 kg/m² higher compared to their counterparts who shopped at the supermarket where the 'food basket' price was highest (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The food basket price in supermarkets was inversely associated with BMI of their shoppers. Our results suggest that careful manipulation of food prices may be used as an intervention for decreasing BMI.

Availability of timely methadone treatment in the United States and Canada during COVID-19: A census tract-level analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to compare timely access to methadone treatment in the United States (US) and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of census tracts and aggregated dissemination areas (used for rural Canada) within 14 US and 3 Canadian jurisdictions in 2020. We excluded census tracts or areas with a population density of less than one person per square km. Data from a 2020 audit of timely medication access was used to determine clinics accepting new patients within 48 h. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regressions were performed to examine the relationship between area population density and sociodemographic covariates and three outcome variables: 1) driving distance to the nearest methadone clinic accepting new patients, 2) driving distance to the nearest methadone clinic accepting new patients for medication initiation within 48 h, and 3) the difference in the driving distance between the first and second outcome. RESULTS: We included 17,611 census tracts and areas with a population density greater than one person per square kilometer. After adjusting for area covariates, US jurisdictions were a median of 11.6 miles (p value <0.001) further from a methadone clinic accepting new patients and 25.1 miles (p value <0.001) further from a clinic accepting new patients within 48 h than Canadian jurisdictions. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the more flexible Canadian regulatory approach to methadone treatment is associated with a greater availability of timely methadone treatment and reduced urban-rural disparity in availability, compared to the US.