Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada
Volume 32, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 208-215

Income disparities in life expectancy in the City of Toronto and Region of Peel, Ontario (Article)

Stratton J. , Mowat D.L. , Wilkins R.* , Tjepkema M.
  • a Peel Public Health, Brampton, ON, Canada
  • b Peel Public Health, Brampton, ON, Canada, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, Faculty of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • c Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, RHC-24A, 100 Tunney's Pasture Driveway, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6, Canada, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
  • d Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, RHC-24A, 100 Tunney's Pasture Driveway, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6, Canada

Abstract

Introduction: To understand the lack of a gradient in mortality by neighbourhood income in a previous study, we used individual-level data from the 1991-2001 Canadian census mortality follow-up study to examine income-related disparities in life expectancy and probability of survival to age 75 years in the City of Toronto and Region of Peel. Methods: We calculated period life tables for each sex and income adequacy quintile, overall and separately for immigrants and non-immigrants. Results: For all cohort members of both sexes, including both immigrants and non-immigrants, there was a clear gradient across the income quintiles, with higher life expectancy in each successively richer quintile. However, the disparities by income were much greater when the analysis was restricted to non-immigrants. The lesser gradient for immigrants appeared to reflect the higher proportion of recent immigrants in the lower income quintiles. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of using individual-level ascertainment of income whenever possible, and of including immigrant status and period of immigration in assessments of health outcomes, especially for areas with a high proportion of immigrants.

Author Keywords

Healthy immigrant effect Probability of survival Cohort study Mortality Canada

Index Keywords

urban population Life Tables survival survival analysis human Cohort Studies statistics Aged income Humans life table life expectancy Canada male female population research Article Ontario adult migration Censuses cohort analysis Emigration and Immigration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84867705041&partnerID=40&md5=5d9df721b3fd7893a29de71c1b21d0f4
ISSN: 02288699
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English