Methodology

Advisory on the Use of Competency Frameworks in Public Health

Many countries have developed competency frameworks to support workers faced with the growing complexity of public health practices. To better understand the utilization of these frameworks in Québec, identify courses of action for optimizing their use, and ascertain updating requirements, the Direction générale de la santé publique of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec tasked the Institut national de santé publique du Québec with preparing an advisory to that effect.

Main observations and courses of action based on a competency-based approach

Competency frameworks are usually viewed as tools associated with a competency-based approach in the workplace. Therefore, their use depends on contextual factors, such as the extent to which managers and other staff, human resource departments and labour unions understand and adopt this type of approach. Despite the fact that a competency-based approach is promising, there is legitimat…

Material and social deprivation index: A summary

In Quebec, the deprivation index was created first and foremost to overcome the lack of socioeconomic data in most administrative databases.

Developing an ecological proxy was the only way to monitor social inequalities related to important health issues such as mortality, hospitalization and the use of health services. The proxy’s main purpose is to assign area-based socioeconomic information to every individual by linking the geography of the census with the one found in the administrative databases. As a result, the index assists in the surveillance of social inequalities in health in Québec and Canada since the end of the 1980s.

While it was shown that the deprivation index underestimates inequalities (Pampalon, Hamel, Gamache, 2009), it is the best alternative in the absence of socioeconomic information.

Identification guide for ticks found in Québec

The Identification guide for ticks found in Québec was developed for physicians, veterinarians and other health professionals to inform them about the main types of ticks found in Québec and to help them identify specimens brought to them by their patients.

There are about 900 tick species worldwide. Ticks are Acari that parasitize most vertebrates, including humans, by feeding on their blood.

In Québec, 12 tick species have been identified so far. Some tick species are reservoirs and vectors of viruses, bacteria and parasites: they are the second leading vector of human disease, after the mosquito. The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the tick that transmits the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent responsible for Lyme disease (in french).

Identification guide for ticks found in Québec

The Identification guide for ticks found in Québec was developed for physicians, veterinarians and other health professionals to inform them about the main types of ticks found in Québec and to help them identify specimens brought to them by their patients.

There are about 900 tick species worldwide. Ticks are Acari that parasitize most vertebrates, including humans, by feeding on their blood.

In Québec, 12 tick species have been identified so far. Some tick species are reservoirs and vectors of viruses, bacteria and parasites: they are the second leading vector of human disease, after the mosquito. The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the tick that transmits the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent responsible for Lyme disease (in french).

The Challenges of Updating the Deprivation Index with Data from the 2011 Census and the National Household Survey (NHS)

In 2011, the Canadian National Household Survey (NHS) replaced the long-form census, introducing a potential bias regarding the small-scale use of NHS data and having an incidence on the deprivation index update.

This document outlines the methodological scenarios that were tested in order to update the 2011 deprivation index.

  • The replacement of the long-form census by the voluntary National Household Survey (NHS) in 2011 led to a sharp increase in the global non-response rate.
  • Updating the material and social deprivation index (MSDI) with 2011 data risks to introduce a non-response bias and lead to inaccurate results.
  • Four versions of the 2011 MSDI featuring various adjustments were tested to assess its quality and to identify the most comparable and accurate version for longitudinal analyses.
  • Differences between versions proved to be minimal. The version without any adjustments produces similar results to the other versions. It…

Prevalence of Hypertension in Québec: A Comparison of Health administrative Data and Survey Data

Among the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, hypertension is the leading factor since 13% of deaths overall are attributed to it. Given the considerable weight of this risk factor from the standpoint of public health, it is necessary that population-based studies be conducted to measure its prevalence and evolution over time. In Québec, the universal healthcare system is administered, among other things, by means of health administrative databases that are constantly being updated and can be linked. Population-based health surveys are conducted on a regular basis and provide other types of data. The data collected through the surveys can be self-reported or measured. The main objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of estimated hypertension based on three data sources: 1) linked health administrative data; 2) self-reported data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS); and 3) measured data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS).

Monitoring of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders: Feasibility Study Based on Health Administrative Databases

The term dementia refers to a group of degenerative diseases that affect cognitive function and lead to loss of functional autonomy. Vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are the most common forms of dementia. In this report, the term “Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders” will be used.

Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders generally start appearing from the age of 60 to 65 years of age and onwards. They affect individuals’ daily functioning by disrupting their memory, judgment, organization, orientation, language or control over their behaviour and emotions. These diseases place a staggering burden on individuals who are affected, their families and caregivers, as well as on professionals and the health system.

To date, most estimates of the prevalence and incidence of AD and related disorders in Canada are still based on the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA), a large population study conducted across Canada between 1991 a…

A Strategy and Indicators for Monitoring Social Inequalities in Health in Québec

For two decades, the reduction of social inequalities in health has been on the health policy and guidance agenda in Québec. Moreover, current monitoring activities make it possible to track social determinants of health, population health status and the use of health and social services over time and space (regionally). In spite of these achievements, Québec does not have a plan for the systematic monitoring of social inequalities in health, although the existence of these inequalities is well documented.

The goal of this report is to propose a strategy and indicators for monitoring social inequalities in health. It is the result of a joint effort on the part of regional and national surveillance professionals in Québec, from the Table de concertation nationale en surveillance, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec.

The report is divided into three parts: the first presents background information and…

Assessment of validity for the “language spoken at home” variable in Québec death records: Summary

This document falls within the framework of the analysis project on the health of official language minority communities in Quebec led by the INSPQ, in collaboration with the Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN) and the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. This report focuses on the validity of the “language spoken at home” variable present in death records as they currently exist. This information is important since we use it to attribute a language status to the deceased based on this variable, especially for the mortality analysis with relation to linguistic group.

In our work, language is a health determinant. Therefore, it is used as a discriminating factor, which has rarely been the case in Quebec up until now. Some ecological studies have indirectly taken a look at linguistic communities since they were interested in neighbourhood and socioeconomic status. Other studies that took place between 1970 and 1980 have used ethnicity, which was form…

The Québec Index of Material and Social Deprivation: Methodological Follow-up, 1991 through 2006

Since its creation in the late 1990s, the Québec index of material and social deprivation has been widely utilized in the field of public health for purposes that range from health monitoring and policy development to evaluation of services and resource allocation. More recently, a Canadian version of the index has been produced and used at that level.

There are provincial, regional, and local versions of the Québec index. Four revisions have been made over the years, in conjunction with the 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006 censuses. While some publications have examined the index's construction for a specific census year, none of them have tracked its methodological components throughout the period from 1991 to 2006. Therefore we cannot easily follow up on modifications that pertain to basic area units, the indicators that comprise the index, or how they are combined.

The intent of this paper is to remedy that deficiency and to respond to index users' requests in this reg…