At a Glance

December 2016

• Rise in single father-led households, while single fathers less likely than single mothers to access mental health care despite similar need
• $2.1 billion to treat Ontarians with psychotic disorders in single year, with costs growing with age
• ICES research video series: Jack Tu on big data study on 20-year trends in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
• Canadians with traumatic brain injury more likely to be federally incarcerated
• Opioid prescribing declines following release of national guidelines for physicians, but rates of overdose-related hospital visits continue to climb
• Health care for children with diabetes mellitus from low-income families in Ontario and California: a population-based cohort study
• Risk of fractures after stroke: results from the Ontario Stroke Registry
• Primary care physician volume and quality of diabetes care: a population-based cohort study
• Peripheral nerve blockade for primary total knee arthroplasty: a population-based cohort study of outcomes and resource utilization

November 2016

• Risk of death from heart disease or cancer rises with either high or low HDL cholesterol
• No worse outcomes seen after limit set on reimbursed diabetes test strips
• ICES research video series: Tara Kiran on barriers to primary care reform for vulnerable patients
• Gap closing on male, female life expectancy in Canada
• More than 600 Ontarians died of opioid-related causes in 2013 with wide variation across the province
• Study finds risk of hemorrhage with combination of two common statins and stroke prevention drug
• Ontario Stroke Evaluation Report 2016: A Focus on Stroke Rehabilitation
• Variability in antibiotic use across Ontario acute care hospitals
• Recent temporal changes in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases in Ontario: clinical and health systems impact
• Predictors of and trends in high-intensity end-of-life care among children with cancer: a population-based study using health services data
• Prevalence, recurrence, and incidence of current depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in Ontario, Canada: results from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study

October 2016

• Factors associated with timely physician follow-up after a first diagnosis of psychotic disorder
• ICES research video series: Claire de Oliveira on phase-specific and lifetime costs of cancer care in Ontario
• “Weekday effect” not a factor in elective surgery mortality in Ontario
• Patients with COPD and chronic asthma at higher risk of severe illness: Ontario study
• Deceased organ donation registration and familial consent among Chinese and South Asians in Ontario, Canada
• Impact of a mass media mental health campaign on psychiatric emergency department visits
• The association of dyslipidemia with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a population-based study
• Clinical impact of subsequent depression in patients with a new diagnosis of stable angina: a population-based study
• Inhaled long-acting anticholinergics and urinary tract infection in individuals with COPD

September 2016

• People with COPD & asthma at higher risk of severe illness [infographic]
• ICES chief science officer Astrid Guttmann on barriers to newborn jaundice screening [video]
• MRIs in first trimester of pregnancy not associated with increased risk to fetus
• Standard pertussis vaccine effective for a few years but immunity wanes substantially over time
• Traffic crash during pregnancy increases cerebral palsy risk to unborn child
• Printed educational messages fail to increase use of thiazides as first-line medication for hypertension in primary care
• Substance-related and addictive disorders among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
• Varenicline and risk of self-harm

August 2016

• Higher health care costs for Ontarians living with chronic pain
• Gastric cancer patients receive different treatment depending on region
• More psychiatrists will not improve access to mental health care in Ontario, study suggests
• Study reveals ethnic differences in mental health severity when hospitalized
• Unhealthy habits cost Canadians six years of life
• New analysis looks at who is receiving high-strength opioids in Ontario
• New study sheds light on long-term survival of children with trisomy 13 and 18
• Many women heading to ER for postpartum mood disorders
• Young medically-complex patients need less acute care after discharge if follow-up happens quickly
• Babies born to diabetic moms more at risk for birth anomalies; study findings support folic acid supplements

July 2016

• Study of one million patients shows link between type 2 diabetes and many types of cancer
• Home blood pressure monitoring may be driving unnecessary visits to ER
• Concussion triples adult suicide risk, with rates highest following weekend concussions
• Researchers find unexpected association between younger donor age, female sex and transfusion outcomes
• New opioid use in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with increased risk of death
• Study casts doubt on clinical significance of gadolinium brain deposits
• First issue of Data and Discovery now available
• Poorer children with diabetes have more adverse events using insulin pumps despite 24-hour support
• Age, dementia, and long-term care residence are predictors of lower oral anticoagulant use for secondary stroke prevention
• Older recipient age and female sex associated with increased fracture risk in kidney transplant recipients

June 2016

• Half of all patients dying in Ontario receive some form of palliative care, usually in hospital
• ICES research video series: Chaim Bell on hospital visits by primary care physicians
• Introducing our newest satellite site: ICES McMaster
• One in 30 Ontario women require vaginal mesh revision or removal surgery after treatment for stress urinary incontinence
• 2014/15 Ontario Stroke Report Cards
• New ICES report: Variations in quality indicators across Ontario physician networks
• New study shows gaps in the delivery of publicly funded mental health services to HIV-positive patients with depression
• Hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection is associated with substantial health care costs

May 2016

• How long are Ontarians waiting in the emergency department to be admitted to intensive care?
• ICES research video series: Doug Manuel on unhealthy behaviour costs
• Obesity rising in less walkable Ontario neighbourhoods; highly walkable areas see drop in diabetes
• Study finds high death rate among people who are or have been incarcerated
• Ontario rotavirus hospitalizations drop 71% after launch of infant vaccine program
• Ontarians waiting too long to see specialists for arthritis care
• Maternal and infant health at increased risk if mother has an intellectual or developmental disability

April 2016 *New design and format*

Introducing a new design of At a Glance, using infographics, videos and news stories to share our research highlights.

• Statins shown to be safe in generic form for high-risk coronary patients 
• Ontarians' unhealthy behaviours cost $89.4 billion between 2004 and 2013
• Adult prescriptions for ADHD drugs more than doubled in five years, but access uneven across Canada
• Poor contraceptive practices are leading to pregnancies in users of isotretinoin, a drug that causes birth defects
• Breast cancer patients receiving Herceptin treatment should be monitored for heart damage at any age
• Women with schizophrenia less likely to use acute mental health services during pregnancy and after delivery
• Dementia patients with multiple physicians or in long-term care at risk of medication conflict

March 2016

• Suicide risk threefold higher after concussion; rates highest following weekend concussions
• Lower income Ontario seniors less likely to access newly approved blood thinner
• Emergency visits by Ontario youth for mental health and addictions increased by 32% over six years
• Even moderate changes in air temperature can lead to increase in deaths
• Significant rise in gallbladder disease surgery among children in 20-year period

February 2016

• Five per cent of Ontario residents account for 65% of health care costs
• Adults prescriptions for ADHD drugs more than doubled in five years, but access uneven across Canada
• Patients of female doctors more likely to get cancer screening, less likely to be hospitalized
• Unnecessary blood tests common prior to low-risk surgery, with high variation between hospitals
• Threefold risk of death from cancer after solid organ transplant

January 2016

• Quality of mental health services varies across Ontario: ICES/HQO report
• Fast food “swamps” linked to high obesity rates when healthier choices crowded out
• Safe injection facilities would be cost-effective in Toronto and Ottawa
• Use of common antibiotic increases risk for tendon rupture and aortic aneurysm
• Many Ontarians with dementia do not get rehabilitative care following hip fracture surgery