Did You Know?

The effects of socio-economic status (SES) are more prominent for some types of hospital admissions than for others. For example, a CIHI study of 15 census metropolitan areas over a three-year period (between 2003–2004 and 2005–2006) found:

• Hospitalization rates for mental health in the low-SES group were 2.3 times those in the high-SES group (596 per 100,000 people compared to 256 per 100,000). Hospitalization rates for substance-related disorders in the low-SES group were 3.4 times those in the high-SES group.
• Urban Canadians in low-SES groups were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for chronic conditions that could potentially be treated in the community, known as ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), than those in high-SES groups. For example, they were 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized for diabetes and 2.7 times more likely to be hospitalized for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Children from low-SES groups had hospitalization rates for asthma 56% higher than children from high-SES groups.