Health disparity by neighbourhood income.

BACKGROUND

Canadian cities are becoming more segregated by income. As such, investigation is required into the magnitude of health disparity between low-, average- and high-income neighbourhoods in order to quantify the level of health disparity at the scale of an urban city.

METHODS

A cross-sectional ecological study design was used to review all hospital discharges, physician visits, medication utilization, public health information and vital statistics for an entire city by neighbourhood income status. Postal code information was used to identify six existing contiguous residential neighbourhoods in the city of Saskatoon that were defined as low-income cut-off neighbourhoods (N=1 8,228). There were two comparison groups: all other Saskatoon residents (N=184,284) and the five most affluent neighbourhoods in Saskatoon (N=1 6,683).

FINDINGS: Statistically significant differences in health care utilization by neighbourhood income status were observed for suicide attempts, mental disorders, injuries and poisonings, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis C, teen birth, low birthweight, infant mortality and all-cause mortality. The rate ratios increased in size when comparing low-income neighbourhoods to high-income neighbourhoods. No clear trend was observed for stroke or cancer.