Four types of explanatory variables are used, which are commonly used in the literature to explain health outcomes – demographic/household/socioeconomic, enabling, need, and life-style variables.
Demographic, household, and socioeconomic variables capture differences in morbidity for individuals of different age, sex, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Gender is represented by a dummy variable (female = 1, male = 0). Marital status is characterized by two dummy variables (currently married = 1, 0 otherwise, and widows, separated, and divorced = 1, 0 otherwise), which means that singles are the reference group. Three dummy variables capture age differences: 35–59 years, 60– 74 years and 75 or older, leaving 15–34 years as the reference category. Immigration status of the respondent is represented by two dummy variables capturing 0–9 and 10 years or more years since migration, leaving native born Canadians as the reference category.
Degree of access to health care is captured by enabling variables. Enabling variables used to represent differences in the supply of health care variables and differences in health care demand. Differences in access by urban size are captured by two dummy variables, urban and metropolitan, for which the reference category is rural. Series of dummy variables has been used to capture provincial differences in structure, delivery, and organization with Ontario as the …show more content…
Average daily alcohol consumption is a continuous variable. The level of physical activity is represented by dummy variables for those who report moderate and inactive activity, leaving those who are active as the reference category. To examine the effect of smoking behaviour I have used three dummy variables; whether a respondent is a daily smoker, smokes occasionally, or is subject to a household member who smokes inside the home (a passive smoker); leaving non-smokers as the reference
Demographic, household, and socioeconomic variables capture differences in morbidity for individuals of different age, sex, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Gender is represented by a dummy variable (female = 1, male = 0). Marital status is characterized by two dummy variables (currently married = 1, 0 otherwise, and widows, separated, and divorced = 1, 0 otherwise), which means that singles are the reference group. Three dummy variables capture age differences: 35–59 years, 60– 74 years and 75 or older, leaving 15–34 years as the reference category. Immigration status of the respondent is represented by two dummy variables capturing 0–9 and 10 years or more years since migration, leaving native born Canadians as the reference category.
Degree of access to health care is captured by enabling variables. Enabling variables used to represent differences in the supply of health care variables and differences in health care demand. Differences in access by urban size are captured by two dummy variables, urban and metropolitan, for which the reference category is rural. Series of dummy variables has been used to capture provincial differences in structure, delivery, and organization with Ontario as the …show more content…
Average daily alcohol consumption is a continuous variable. The level of physical activity is represented by dummy variables for those who report moderate and inactive activity, leaving those who are active as the reference category. To examine the effect of smoking behaviour I have used three dummy variables; whether a respondent is a daily smoker, smokes occasionally, or is subject to a household member who smokes inside the home (a passive smoker); leaving non-smokers as the reference