IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0289292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of socio-economic determinants of COVID-19 testing and positivity in Canada: A multi-provincial analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Lilia Antonova
  • Chandy Somayaji
  • Jillian Cameron
  • Monica Sirski
  • Maria E Sundaram
  • James Ted McDonald
  • Sharmistha Mishra
  • Jeffrey C Kwong
  • Alan Katz
  • Stefan Baral
  • Lisa Caulley
  • Andrew Calzavara
  • Martin Corsten
  • Stephanie Johnson-Obaseki

Abstract

Background: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been more pronounced for socially disadvantaged populations. We sought to determine how access to SARS-CoV-2 testing and the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 were associated with demographic factors, socioeconomic status (SES) and social determinants of health (SDH) in three Canadian provinces. Methods: An observational population-based cross-sectional study was conducted for the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick between March 1, 2020 and April 27, 2021, using provincial health administrative data. After excluding residents of long-term care homes, those without current provincial health insurance and those who were tested for COVID-19 out of province, records from provincial healthcare administrative databases were reviewed for 16,900,661 healthcare users. Data was modelled separately for each province in accordance to a prespecified protocol and follow-up consultations among provincial statisticians and collaborators. We employed univariate and multivariate regression models to examine determinants of testing and test results. Results: After adjustment for other variables, female sex and urban residency were positively associated with testing, while female sex was negatively associated with test positivity. In New Brunswick and Ontario, individuals living in higher income areas were more likely to be tested, whereas in Manitoba higher income was negatively associated with both testing and positivity. High ethnocultural composition was associated with lower testing rates. Both high ethnocultural composition and high situational vulnerability increased the odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Discussion: We observed that multiple demographic, income and SDH factors were associated with SARS-CoV-2 testing and test positivity. Barriers to healthcare access identified in this study specifically relate to COVID-19 testing but may reflect broader inequities for certain at-risk groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilia Antonova & Chandy Somayaji & Jillian Cameron & Monica Sirski & Maria E Sundaram & James Ted McDonald & Sharmistha Mishra & Jeffrey C Kwong & Alan Katz & Stefan Baral & Lisa Caulley & Andrew Calz, 2023. "Comparison of socio-economic determinants of COVID-19 testing and positivity in Canada: A multi-provincial analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(8), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0289292
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0289292
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0289292&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0289292?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Rideout & Calum Murray & Chris Isles, 2021. "Regional variation in COVID-19 positive hospitalisation across Scotland during the first wave of the pandemic and its relation to population density: A cross-sectional observation study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bopaki Phogole & Kowiyou Yessoufou, 2023. "Greener Neighbourhoods Show Resilience to the Spread but Not Severity of COVID-19 Infection in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0289292. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.