Population Profile:Health Seeking Behaviours of Participants with and without a History of Cancer Ellen Sweeney Click here to see the full brief Two of every five Canadians are expected to develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in four is expected to die as a result. In 2015, this translated to approximately 196,900 new cancer diagnoses in Canada and 78,000 cancer-related deaths (41,000 men and 37,000 women). Atlantic Canada has among the highest rates of cancer in the country (Society’s Steering Committee on Cancer Statistics, 2012; Marrett et al. 2008; Xie et al., 2015). The data collected as part of the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (Atlantic PATH) cohort study supports this finding by demonstrating high rates of cancer and other chronic disease. Atlantic PATH includes self-reported survey data for over 30,000 participants aged 35-69 from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador (Borugian et al., 2010; Yu et al., 2014). The results of the Atlantic PATH study indicate that 7.6% of participants (n=2371) have been diagnosed with at least one form of cancer.

Prevalence and correlates of physical activity behaviour in an Atlantic Canadian population-based cohort Cindy Forbes Click here to see the full brief Physical activity (PA) has been linked to improved physical and mental health, while higher levels of inactivity has been identified as an important risk factor for a number of chronic diseases. However, research suggests that the majority of the Canadian population are inactive. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), first launched in 2007, collects health information via household interviews and direct measures. A main goal of the CHMS is to allow researchers to determine any relationships between disease risk factors and health status, and to explore emerging public health issues among Canadians. In order to change behaviour, studies show targeting specific groups of the population may be more effective. An examination of the correlates of PA among the Atlantic PATH cohort will allow us to determine what groups are inactive and may benefit from targeted interventions. Accordingly, the goal of this report is to explore any demographic or medical correlates associated with PA in a cohort of Atlantic Canadians.