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Poor Canadians Survive Cancer Better Than in US

Wed, 11/01/2000 - 1:00am — Karen Stevenson
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Middle-class and upper-middle-class US and Canadian residents have similar odds of surviving cancer, but America's poorer residents do not fare as well as those in Canada, according to new study findings. The study was led by Dr. Kevin M. Gorey, of University of Windsor in Ontario, and reported on in the Journal of Public Health Medicine.

Among people on the bottom one third of the socioeconomic ladder, Canadians were about 35% more likely to survive cancer than similar US residents. The researchers attribute the results to the differences in the Canadian and US healthcare systems. Gorey noted that several previous studies have failed to detect a difference in cancer survival between the two countries, but the research did not break down the statistics by socioeconomic status. The disparity between the US and Canada was even greater when the analysis only included people who were diagnosed with cancer before age 65. In the US, most of these people would not be eligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

Middle-class and upper-middle-class US and Canadian residents have similar odds of surviving cancer, but America's poorer residents do not fare as well as those in Canada, according to new study findings. The study was led by Dr. Kevin M. Gorey, of University of Windsor in Ontario, and reported on in the Journal of Public Health Medicine.

Among people on the bottom one third of the socioeconomic ladder, Canadians were about 35% more likely to survive cancer than similar US residents. The researchers attribute the results to the differences in the Canadian and US healthcare systems. Gorey noted that several previous studies have failed to detect a difference in cancer survival between the two countries, but the research did not break down the statistics by socioeconomic status. The disparity between the US and Canada was even greater when the analysis only included people who were diagnosed with cancer before age 65. In the US, most of these people would not be eligible for Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly.