Social inequalities in protective behaviour uptake at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a national survey.

Objectives: We aimed to assess social patterns of handwashing, social distancing, and working from home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, and determine what proportions of the overall prevalence and social inequalities in handwashing and social distancing are related to inequalities in the opportunity to work from home, to guide pandemic preparedness and response.

Methods: Using cross-sectional data from the Canadian Perspectives Survey Series, collected between March 29 and April 3, 2020, among Canadian adults (N=4455), we assessed prevalence of not working from home, social distancing in public, or practicing frequent handwashing, according to age, sex, marital status, immigration, education, chronic disease presence, and source of COVID-19 information. Multivariate regression, population attributable fraction estimation, and generalized product mediation analysis were applied.

Unemployment Insurance and Mortality Among the Long-Term Unemployed: A Population-Based Matched-Cohort Study.

Unemployment insurance is hypothesized to play an important role in mitigating the adverse health consequences of job loss. In this prospective cohort study, we examined whether receiving unemployment benefits is associated with lower mortality among the long-term unemployed. Census records from the 2006 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (n = 2,105,595) were linked to mortality data from 2006-2016.

Identifying gaps in COVID-19 health equity data reporting in Canada using a scorecard approach.

Objective: To assess health equity-oriented COVID-19 reporting across Canadian provinces and territories, using a scorecard approach.

Methods: A scan was performed of provincial and territorial reporting of five data elements (cumulative totals of tests, cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and population size) across three units of aggregation (province or territory level, health regions, and local areas) (15 "overall" indicators), and for four vulnerable settings (long-term care and detention facilities, schools, and homeless shelters) and eight social markers (age, sex, immigration status, race/ethnicity, healthcare worker status, occupational sector, income, and education) (180 "equity-related" indicators) as of December 31, 2020. Per indicator, one point was awarded if case-delimited data were released, 0.

A time-series analysis of testing and COVID-19 outbreaks in Canadian federal prisons to inform prevention and surveillance efforts.

Background: Approximately 14,000 adults are currently incarcerated in federal prisons in Canada. These facilities are vulnerable to disease outbreaks and an assessment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing and outcomes is needed. The objective of this study was to examine outcomes of COVID-19 testing, prevalence, case recovery and death within federal prisons and to contrast these data with those of the general population.

Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in premature and avoidable mortality in Canada, 1991-2016.

Background: Recent epidemiologic findings suggest that socioeconomic inequalities in health may be widening over time. We examined trends in socioeconomic inequalities in premature and avoidable mortality in Canada.

Methods: We conducted a population-based repeated cohort study using the 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts.

Did the UN convention on the rights of the child reduce child mortality around the world? An interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Child mortality has been reduced by more than 50 % over the past 30 years. A range of secular economic and social developments have been considered to explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we examine the association between ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was specifically put in place to ensure the well-being of children, and declines in child mortality.

Socioeconomic disparities in smoking are partially explained by chronic financial stress: marginal structural model of older US adults.

Background: A persistent socioeconomic gradient in smoking has been observed in a variety of populations. While stress is hypothesised to play a mediating role, the extent of this mediation is unclear. We used marginal structural models (MSMs) to estimate the proportion of the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on smoking, which can be explained by an indicator of stress related to SES, experiences of chronic financial stress.

Environmental factors associated with blood lead among newcomer women from South and East Asia in the Greater Toronto Area.

Background: Newcomers bring with them histories of environmental exposure in their home countries and may have different sources of lead (Pb) exposure compared to other residents of their adopted country.

Aims: To describe past and current factors associated with Pb exposure and blood Pb among South and East Asian newcomer women of reproductive age in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario, Canada.

Methods: In collaboration with public health units and community organizations a community-based research model was utilized by recruiting peer researchers to assist in all aspects of the study.