Saskatchewan Health

About: Saskatchewan Health is a government organization based out in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 442 authors who have published 489 publications receiving 7728 citations.

Range Expansion of Dermacentor variabilis and Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) Near their Northern Distributional Limits

Abstract: Distributional ranges of the ticks Dermacentor andersoni Stiles and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) in the Canadian Prairies were determined by passive surveillance and active collection. These findings were compared with historical records of both species, particularly in the province of Saskatchewan, where the northern distributional limits of both tick species occur. Before the 1960s, D. variabilis and D. andersoni were allopatric in Saskatchewan; however, since then, the distribution of D. variabilis has expanded westward and northward. Although the range of D. andersoni has remained relatively stable, range expansion of D. variabilis has resulted in a zone of sympatry at least 200 km wide. Twenty-nine species of mammals and three species of birds were identified as hosts for different life stages of these ticks.

Reliability of the recording of schizophrenia and depressive disorder in the Saskatchewan health care datafiles.

Abstract: Administrative data have long been used in psychiatric epidemiology and outcomes evaluation. This article examines the reliability of the recording of schizophrenia and depressive disorder in three Saskatchewan administrative health care utilization datafiles. Due to their comprehensive nature, these datafiles have been used in a wide range of epidemiologic studies. Close agreement was found between hospital computer data and patients' charts for personal and demographic factors (≥94.7%). Diagnostic concordance between computerized hospital data and medical charts was very good for schizophrenia (94%) but poor for depressive disorder (58%). Appropriate physician services were identified for 60% and 72% of hospital discharges for schizophrenia and depressive disorder, respectively, andexact diagnostic agreement between hospital and physician datafiles was 62% for schizophrenia and 66% for depressive disorder. Appropriate provincial mental health branch services were found for 83% and 38% of hospital discharges for schizophrenia and depressive disorder, respectively;exact diagnostic concordance between these datafiles was 75% for schizophrenia and 0% for depressive disorder. A significant number of patients with major or neurotic depression appeared to be wrongly coded as having depressive disorder in the hospital file. The differences in diagnostic agreement may also be partly a function of how the two conditions are differentially treated in the health system. These findings suggest that more specific and severe psychiatric diagnoses are likely to be recorded accurately and consistently in the Saskatchewan datafiles. However, disorders with multiple manifestations or those for which there are several possible codes should be examined with caution and ways sought to validate them. Attention should also be paid to which service sectors are involved in the treatment of specific disorders.

Radon exposure is rising steadily within the modern North American residential environment, and is increasingly uniform across seasons

Abstract: Human-made buildings can artificially concentrate radioactive radon gas of geologic origin, exposing occupants to harmful alpha particle radiation emissions that damage DNA and increase lung cancer risk. We examined how North American residential radon exposure varies by modern environmental design, occupant behaviour and season. 11,727 residential buildings were radon-tested using multiple approaches coupled to geologic, geographic, architectural, seasonal and behavioural data with quality controls. Regional residences contained 108 Bq/m3 geometric mean radon (min < 15 Bq/m3; max 7,199 Bq/m3), with 17.8% ≥ 200 Bq/m3. Pairwise analysis reveals that short term radon tests, despite wide usage, display limited value for establishing dosimetry, with precision being strongly influenced by time of year. Regression analyses indicates that the modern North American Prairie residential environment displays exceptionally high and worsening radon exposure, with more recent construction year, greater square footage, fewer storeys, greater ceiling height, and reduced window opening behaviour all associated with increased radon. Remarkably, multiple test approaches reveal minimal winter-to-summer radon variation in almost half of properties, with the remainder having either higher winter or higher summer radon. This challenges the utility of seasonal correction values for establishing dosimetry in risk estimations, and suggests that radon-attributable cancers are being underestimated.