New research from Statistics Canada has found nationally that certain characteristics measured at the time of the 2016 census have been identified as risk factors for acute toxicity death (ATD).
The risk factors include spending more than 15 per cent of total household income on housing. Males between 30 and 59 years of age and those not having completed secondary education were also at risk, as were those who were unemployed.
Approximately 0.05 per cent of Canada’s household population experienced an ATD during the study’s follow-up period.
The research linked 2016 long-form census information to a variety of administrative data sources, including the Canadian Vital Statistics Death (CVSD) database. Summarized in the report, Risk factors for substance-related acute toxicity deaths in Canada from 2016 to 2021: Findings from the 2016 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort, it found the highest age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) were related to lowest educational attainment, household income and unemployment.
Among those employed, highest ASMRs occurred for workers in trades, transport, equipment operators and related occupations. The study excluded institutionalized people, those living in collective dwellings and the unhoused.
Income and housing
They say people who spent between 50 and 100 per cent of their household total income on housing had the highest ASMR. Mortality decreased with increasing incomes.
ATD accounted for at least 2.3 per cent of all deaths in Canada in 2023. ATD rates were generally higher in males compared with females, but Statistics Canada says “similar social determinants of health relate to greater ATD risk for both sexes.” Lower rates of ATD also occurred in racialized and immigrant populations.
The research reportedly extends previous work in the area by using individual and household-level data, rather than aggregated area-based data. They say 89 per cent of the study’s defined ATDs were attributable to IDC-10 codes (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision) for drugs.
