Neighbourhood deprivation and regional inequalities in self-reported health among Canadians: are we equally at risk?

Abstract

Individual-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey was combined with area-level data from the 2001 Canada Census to explore the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and regional inequalities in self-reported health (n=120,290). While neighbourhood deprivation was a significant predictor of fair/poor health in all geographic regions (OR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.14), living on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts exacerbated the detrimental effects of neighbourhood deprivation on the perceived health of respondents (OR=1.21; 1.28). By failing to explore regional variations in risk, we could fail to identify areas where provincial policies may interact with neighbourhood factors to reinforce health inequalities amongst deprived communities.