Intermetropolitan Mortality Variations in Canada 1971-1976

Abstract

<p> This paper is an exploratory study of the intermetropolitan mortality variations in Canada for the years 1971 and 1976. A characterization of the mortality variations based on life expectancies is first performed. Through the use of BACKWARD regression, these variations are then explained by marital status and income variables. Major findings are as follows: (1) There is an east-west spatial pattern for mortality variation with the eastern Census Metropolitan Areas (C~~'s) and northern Ontario CMA's experiencing below average life expectancies and the western CMA's having the highest life expectancies. (2) Victoria B. C. has the longest life expectancy of all of the CMA's for both 1971 and 1976. (3) For females, the MARRIED and LOW INCOME (under $1,000) variables are statistically significant, with MARRIED negatively related and LOW INCOME positively related to mortality. (4) For males, the MARRIED and DIVORCED variables are statistically significant. MARRIED is negatively related to mortality, while a negative relationship was found for DIVORCED although this finding is doubted to be a true relationship. (5) The levels of explanation are not very high. To know whether the unexplained variation is mostly due to chance variation, future research should add more cities to the sample. </p>