OBJECTIVES The availability of dentists as a barrier to access to care has not been thoroughly explored, particularly in large cities. In this study, we aimed to identify disparities in the availability of dentists in Canada's largest urban centre, Toronto, and explore whether distributional disparities are associated with underlying factors, such as affordability as measured by average househo...

BACKGROUND Census-based methods are often used to estimate socioeconomic status. We assessed the agreement between Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and Enumeration Area (EA) derived income levels for all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization in Alberta, Canada, from 1995-1998. METHODS Income quintiles were calculated from census data for FSA and EA level. FSA- and EA-derived income measures...

Although previous research has shown that social cohesion may promote physical activity, social cohesion at the individual level was not always differentiated from social cohesion at the community level, and studies were often limited to specific population subgroups or geographical areas. We addressed the above limitations through the use of a multilevel modelling approach and nationally-repre...

Reporting health data for large urban areas presents numerous challenges. In the case of Toronto, Ontario, amalgamation in 1998 merged six census subdivisions into one mega-city, resulting in the disappearance of standard reporting units. A population-based approach was used to define new health planning areas. Census tracts were used as building blocks and combined according to residential inc...

Multi-agent Pickup and Delivery (MAPD) is a challenging industrial problem where team of robots tasked with transporting set tasks, each from an initial location to specified target location. Appearing in the context automated warehouse logistics mail sortation, MAPD requires first deciding which robot assigned what task (i.e., Task Assignment or TA) followed by subsequent coordination must be ...

  Purpose: The current study aimed to compare mental disorders in two groups of prisoners charged with premeditated murder and kidnapping. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study followed a casual-comparative design. The sample of this study included 60 prisoners charged with premeditated murder and 60 prisoners charged with kidnapping selected using simple random sampling m...

Background: We sought to examine the relationship between environmental factors and Canada's distribution of melanoma incidence 1992 2010. Methods: Data was obtained from Canadian Cancer Registry, Vital Statistics, Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium. Crude rates were for forward sortation areas (FSAs). Enviromental variables included: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as...

OBJECTIVE To define geographical regions (forward sortation areas; FSAs) in Southwestern Ontario, Canada from which patients would reliably present to a hospital with linked laboratory data if they developed adverse events related to medications dispensed in outpatient pharmacies. DESIGN Descriptive research. SETTING Forty-five hospitals in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, from 2003 to 2009. ...

BACKGROUND In an attempt to elucidate broader determinants of adolescent dietary intake and habits, food intakes and selected food behaviours of grades 9 and 10 students from Ontario and Alberta were examined according to school region socio-economic status and urban/rural locale. METHODS Using a stratified random sample framework, 53 high schools from 28 school boards were recruited (45 publ...

OBJECTIVES Individual preferences for residential location, neighbourhood character and travel options are not always met. The availability and cost of housing and several other factors often require compromise. The primary objectives of this study were to examine neighbourhood preferences, quantify unmet demand for more walkable environments and explore associations between the built environme...