Access to Care, Health Status, and Health Disparities in the United States and Canada: Results of a Cross-national Population-based Survey

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2006 Jun 1

PMID 16735628

Citations 199

Authors

Karen E Lasser

David U Himmelstein

Steffie Woolhandler

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: We compared health status, access to care, and utilization of medical services in the United States and Canada and compared disparities according to race, income, and immigrant status.

Methods: We analyzed population-based data on 3505 Canadian and 5183 US adults from the Joint Canada/US Survey of Health. Controlling for gender, age, income, race, and immigrant status, we used logistic regression to analyze country as a predictor of access to care, quality of care, and satisfaction with care and as a predictor of disparities in these measures.

Results: In multivariate analyses, US respondents (compared with Canadians) were less likely to have a regular doctor, more likely to have unmet health needs, and more likely to forgo needed medicines. Disparities on the basis of race, income, and immigrant status were present in both countries but were more extreme in the United States.

Conclusions: United States residents are less able to access care than are Canadians. Universal coverage appears to reduce most disparities in access to care.

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