A hierarchical study of the economic and social characteristics of resource-reliant communities and their association with health outcomes.

摘要

Rural communities that are significantly dependent upon natural resource-based industries feature socio-economic trends that have been shown, in separate studies, to negatively influence health. The goal of this study was to examine associations between individual and community level characteristics, with a contextual focus on resource-reliance. Logistic hierarchical modelling was performed using individual level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey cycle 2.1 and community level data from the 2001 Canadian Census. Resource-reliance was mildly associated with excellent self-rated health (OR=0.97) and excellent mental health (OR=0.97) although the effect decreased with the inclusion of other community variables. Conversely, resource-reliant communities demonstrated a consistent, significantly higher odds of lower work-related stress (OR=1.25) across all models. This research demonstrated a significant association between resource-reliance and health status warranting further investigation. Policy implications from this research focus on economic and educational development.