Abstract
Objective To assess thealth equity-oriented COVID-19 data reporting across Canadian provinces and territories, using a scorecard approach.
Method A scan was performed of provincial and territorial reporting of five data elements (cumulative totals of tests, cases, hospitalizations, deaths and population size) across three units of aggregation (province or territory-level, health regions, and local areas) (15 “overall” indicators), and for two vulnerable settings (long term care and detention facilities) and six social markers (age, sex, immigration status, race/ethnicity, essential worker status, and income) (120 “equity-related” indicators). Per indicator, one point was awarded if case-delimited data were released, 0.7 points if only summary statistics were reported, and 0 if neither was provided. Results were presented using a scorecard approach.
Results Overall, information on cases and deaths was more complete than for tests, hospitalizations and population size denominators needed for rate estimation. Information provided on jurisdictions and their regions, overall, tended to be more available (average score of 53%, “B”) than for equity-related indicators (average score of 21%, “D”). Only British Columbia and Alberta provided case-delimited data, and only Alberta provided information for local areas. No jurisdiction reported on outcomes according to patients’ individual-level immigration status, race, or income. Only Ontario and Quebec provided detailed information for long-term care settings and detention facilities.
Conclusion Socially stratified reporting for COVID-19 outcomes is sparse in Canada. However, several “best practices” in health equity-oriented reporting were observed and set a relevant precedent for all jurisdictions to follow for this pandemic and future ones.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
AB receives postdoctoral funding from the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec-Sante. AS is supported by the Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Our paper uses publicly available, secondary, de-identified, ecological data, and as such is exempt from ethics review.
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Paper in collection COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 preprints from medRxiv and bioRxiv
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Imperial College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Washington, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Subject Area
Reviews and Context
0
Comment
0
TRIP Peer Reviews
0
Community Reviews
0
Automated Services
2
Blogs/Media
Author Videos