A Comparative Analysis of Chronic Diseases in the USA and Canada

摘要

Chronic diseases are the major leading causes of death in Canada and the USA. In the 1990s, in Canada, mortality from diseases of the heart accounted for 26.6%, cancer 27.2%, cardiovascular 7.4%, and obstructive airway disease 4.5%, compared to mortality rate in the USA from heart disease 31.4%, cancer 23.3%, stroke 6.9%, and obstructive airway diseases 4.7% of all mortality rates (Upshaw & Deal, 2002). Unhealthy lifestyles and health determinants that increase risk of chronic diseases in Canada include smoking (28%), inactive lifestyle (57%), and obesity (48%). As in many industrialized nations, chronic health conditions correlate to low socioeconomic status including low education, low income, less access to health care service, and Canada and USA are not exceptional.