Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29358200›Full record

Observational studyCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2018

Effect of provincial spending on social services and health care on health outcomes in Canada: an observational longitudinal study.

Daniel J Dutton, Pierre-Gerlier Forest, Ronald D Kneebone, Jennifer D Zwicker

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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  7. Development and validation of the healthcare access barrier scale (HABS).International journal for equity in health · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
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  13. Value-Based Healthcare: Is It Just Another Buzzword?Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2023
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
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  20. Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Daniel J DuttonSchool of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta. djdutton@ucalgary.ca.
Pierre-Gerlier ForestSchool of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Ronald D KneeboneSchool of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Jennifer D ZwickerSchool of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEscalating health care spending is a concern in Western countries, given the lack of evidence of a direct connection between spending and improvements in health. We aimed to determine the association between spending on health care and social programs and health outcomes in Canada.

methodsWe used retrospective data from Canadian provincial expenditure reports, for the period 1981 to 2011, to model the effects of social and health spending (as a ratio, social/health) on potentially avoidable mortality, infant mortality and life expectancy. We used linear regressions, accounting for provincial fixed effects and time, and controlling for confounding variables at the provincial level.

resultsA 1-cent increase in social spending per dollar spent on health was associated with a 0.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04% to 0.16%) decrease in potentially avoidable mortality and a 0.01% (95% CI 0.01% to 0.02%) increase in life expectancy. The ratio had a statistically nonsignificant relationship with infant mortality (

interpretationPopulation-level health outcomes could benefit from a reallocation of government dollars from health to social spending, even if total government spending were left unchanged. This result is consistent with other findings from Canada and the United States.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCanadaChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHealth Care CostsHealth StatusHumansInfantInfant MortalityInfant, NewbornLife ExpectancyLinear Models

Identifiers

PMID29358200
PMCPMC5780265

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.