Women over 65 less likely than men to visit medical specialists for non-emergencies

Statistics Canada is reporting on a new study of the population which shows that Canadian women over age 65 are less likely than their male counterparts to visit medical specialists and get non-emergency tests. Women were also more likely than men to experience difficulty getting non-emergency tests done.

Entitled Access to specialized health care services among older Canadians, the study estimates that 2.6 million Canadian adults over 65, approximately 43.4 per cent, visited medical specialists in 2019 and 2020. It says 1.4 million or 23.2 per cent got non-emergency tests done while 10.4 per cent had non-emergency surgeries during that time period. “Women were less likely than men to have visited medical specialists and have received non-emergency tests,” they write.

“Among older Canadians who accessed specialized health care services in 2019 and 2020, an estimated half-million, 15.6 per cent, reported having difficulty getting these services.” 

Based on the Canadian Health Survey on Seniors, a nationally representative sample of 39,047 Canadians over age 65 were surveyed to identify need patterns. They say the study represents 3.2-million women and 2.7-million men over age 65, living in private households in the 10 provinces. The majority of those surveyed, they say, were between 65 and 74, married or living common-law, and born in Canada.

Lower socioeconomic status 

“Women, immigrants, those with lower socioeconomic status and those living in rural areas were less likely to use these services in some cases, while those with a regular medical doctor and worse health profiles were more likely to do so,” they conclude. “Lower education was consistently associated with lower odds of specialized health care service use. Individuals in the multimorbidity, high-stress-multimorbidity-disability, and poor physical and mental health classes were more likely than those in the comparatively healthy class to use specialized health care services and experience difficulties accessing them.” 

In 2021, Statistics Canada says 18.5 per cent of the population was aged 65 or older, an increase from 13 per cent in 2001. “By 2030, this is projected to reach between 21.4 per cent and 23.4 per cent of the population. Older people are more likely to have multiple and complex health conditions and, in 2020, accounted for 44 per cent of health expenditures in Canada.”