Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mortality differentials in Canada, 1951–1971: French, British, and Indians

  • Published:
Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mortality differentials reflect in part the social and economic conditions of groups in society. In this paper, the relationship between ethnic origin and mortality is investigated from the point of view of convergence and minority group status hypotheses. Multivariate methods are used to study differences among the French, the British and Native Indian (includes Metis and Eskimos) populations of Canada over three census periods from 1951 to 1971. A significant downward trend in the death rates of all three subpopulations is noted, but substantial differences persist, as the pace of mortality decline over time varies across the three ethnic groups. In the twenty-year interval between 1951 and 1971, Native Indians have experienced spectacular reductions in their overall death rates, but in comparative terms, their mortality levels still exceed those of the French (who show intermediate levels) and the British ethnic groups. The multivariate analysis provides strong support for the minority status effect, which is taken to suggest that the roots of inequalities in survival probabilities are partly a result of social and economic disparities. The convergence thesis received some support: over time the general pattern is one of declining mortality with some narrowing of the differences. An examination of four broad causes of death (neoplasms, cardiovascular, accidents-violence, and "other") suggests that Native Indians are characteristic of populations undergoing epidemiologic and demographic transitions. Their elevated risk of accidents-violence reflects social disruption in the process of modernization. Causes of death of the French and British populations are characterized by higher risks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, typical of advanced societies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, A. B. and J. S. Frideres 1981 Ethnicity in Canada. Toronto: Butterworths.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonovsky, A. 1967 Social Class, Life Expectancy and Overall Mortality. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 45: 31–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean, F. D. and W. P. Frisbie 1978 The Demography of Racial and Ethnic Groups. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, B. S. and E. Former 1978 The Mortality of Spanish Surnamed Persons in Texas: 1969–1971. In F. D. Bean and W. P. Frisbie (eds.), The Demography of Racial and Ethnic Groups. Pp. 261–282. Academic Press: New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broudy, D. W. and P. A. May 1983 Demographic and Epidemiologic Transition Among the Navajo Indians. Social Biology 30(1): 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clement, W. 1975 The Canadian Corporate Elite: Economic Power in Canada. Toronto: Maclelland and Stewart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coale, A. J. 1974 The Demographic Transition Reconsidered. International Population Conference: Liege.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, D. A. 1982 Demography of Immigrants and Minority Groups in the United Kingdom. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crimmins, E. M. 1981 The Changing Pattern of American Mortality Decline, 1940–77, and its Implications for the Future. Population and Development Review 7(2): 229–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damon, A. 1969 Race, Ethnic Group and Disease. Social Biology 16(2): 69–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, W. J. 1981 BMDP Statistical Software. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fein, R. 1977 On Achieving Access and Equity in Health Care. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 44(2): 157–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fienberg, S. E. 1978 The Analysis of Cross-Classified Data. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forcese, D. 1980 The Canadian Class Structure. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, E. M. and J. E. Veevers 1985 Increasing Sex Mortality Differentials Among Black Americans, 1950–1978. Phylon 46(2): 162–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldscheider, C. and P. R. Uhlenberg 1969 Minority Group Status and Fertility. American Journal of Sociology 74: 361–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldscheider, C. 1971 Population, Modernization and Social Structure. Boston: Little.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, L. A. 1972 A Modified Multiple Regression Approach to the Analysis of Dichotomous Variables. American Sociological Review 37: 28–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haenszel, W. and M. Kurihara 1968 Studies of Japanese Migrants. I. Mortality from Cancer and Other Diseases Among Japanese in the United States. Journal of The National Cancer Institute 40-43-68.

  • Hall, H. and X. Bell 1985 Increases in Cancer Rates Among Blacks. Journal of Black Psychology 12(1): 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, A. F. and J. F. Short Jr. 1954 Suicide and Homicide. London: The Free Press of Glencoe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, G. K. and M. Boldt 1982 Death Styles Among Canada's Indians. Social Science and Medicine, 16: 1345–1352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, G. K. 1977 Mormon Mortality Rates in Canada. Social Biology 24(4): 294–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasl, S. V. and L. Berkman 1983 Health Consequences of the Experience of Migration. Annual Review of Public Health 4: 69–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, H. and F. B. Locke 1980 Cancer Mortality Risk Among Chinese in the United States. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 65: 1141–1148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitagawa, E. 1977 On Mortality, Demography 14(4): 381–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitagawa, E. and P. M. Hauser 1973 Differential Mortality in the United States: A Study in Socioeconomic Epidemiology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J. S. and K. S. Markides 1985 Socioeconomic Status and Infant Mortality Among Hispanics in a Southwestern City. Social Biology 32(1–2): 61–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberson, S. 1961 A Societal Theory of Race and Ethnic Relations. American Sociological Review 26(6): 902–910.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locke, F. B. and H. King 1980 Cancer Mortality Risk Among Japanese in the United States. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 65: 1149–1156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, A. D. and L. T. Ruzicka 1983 Sex Differentials in Mortality. Canberra: Australian National University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manton, K. G., S. S. Poss, and S. Wing 1979 The Black/White Mortality Crossover: Investigation From the Perspective of the Components of Aging. Gerontologist 19: 291–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mao, Y., H. Morrison, R. Semeneir, and D. Wigle 1986 Mortality on Canadian Indian Reserves. Canadian Journal of Public Health 77: 263–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markides, K. S. 1983 Mortality Among Minority Populations: A Review of Recent Patterns and Trends. Public Health Reports 98(3): 252–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. G., A. M. Adelstein and L. Bulusu 1984 Immigrant Mortality in England and Wales 1970–78. Causes of Death by Country of Birth. Studies of Medical and Population Subjects No. 47 (HMSO London, England).

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. G. and S. L. Syme 1976 Acculturation and Coronary Heart Disease in Japanese Americans. American Journal of Epidemiology 104(3): 225–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeown, T., R. G. Brown, and R. G. Record 1972 An Interpretation of the Modern Rise of Population in Europe. Population Studies 26: 345–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millar, W. J. 1982 Mortality Patterns in a Canadian Indian Population. Canadian Studies in Population 9: 17–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirowsky, J. II. and C. E. Ross 1980 Minority Status Ethnic Culture and Distress. American Journal of Sociology 86: 479–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nam, C. B., N. L. Wheatherby, and K. A. Ockay 1978 Causes of Death Which Contribute to the Mortality Crossover Effect. Social Biology 25(4): 306–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olshansky, S. J. and A. B. Ault 1986 The Fourth Stage of the Epidemoogy Transition: The Age of Delayed Degenerative Diseases. The Milbank Quarterly 64(3): 355–3931.

    Google Scholar 

  • Omran, A. R. 1971 The Epidemiological Transition: A Theory of the Epidemiology of Population Change. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 49: 509–538.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piche, V. and M. V. George 1973 Estimates of Vital Rates for the Canadian Indians, 1960–1970. Demography 10(3): 367–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, J. 1965 The Vertical Mosaic, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powels, J. 1978 The Effects of Health Services on Adult Male Mortality in Relation to the Effects of Social and Economic Factors. Ethics in Science and Medicine 5: 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, S. H., N. Keyfitz, and R. Schoen 1972 Causes of Death: Life Tables for National Populations. New York: Seminar Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenweike, I. and D. Shai 1986 Trends in Cancer Mortality Among Puerto Rican-born Migrants to New York City. International Journal of Epidemiology 15(1): 30–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenweike, I. 1984 Mortality Among the Puerto Rican-Born in New York City. Social Science Quarterly 64(2): 375–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roy, L. 1975 La Mortalite Selon La Cause de Deces et L'Origine Ethnique au Quebec, 1951, 1961, 1971. Division des Etudes Demographiques, Ministres des Affaires Sociales, Quebec.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, R. and V. E. Nelson 1981 Mortality by Cause Among Spanish Surnamed Californians, 1969–71. Social Science Quarterly 62(2): 259–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, G. E. and J. M. Yinger 1972 Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. and H. B. Newcombe 1980 Automatic Follow-up Facilities in Canada for Monitoring Delayed Health Effects. American Journal of Public Health 70(12): 1261–1268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockwell, E. G., J. W. Wicks and D. J. Adamchak 1978 Research Needed on Socioeconomic Differentials in U.S. Mortality. Public Health Reports 93(6): 666–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchman, E. A. 1964 Sociomedical Variations Among Ethnic Groups. American Journal of Sociology 70: 319–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, M. and R. Bourbeau 1985 La Mortalite et la Fecondite Selon de Groupe Linguistique au Quebec, 1976 et 1981. Cahiers Quebecois de Demographic 14(1): 7–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trovato, F. 1985 Mortality Differences Among Canada's Indigenous and Foreign-Born Populations, 1951–1971. Canadian Studies in Population 12(1): 49–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trovato, F. 1984 Mortality Differences Among the French, British and Native Indian Indigenous Populations of Canada. Population Research Laboratory, Discussion Paper No. 38. Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tumin, M. M. 1967 Social Stratification: The Forms and Functions of Inequality. Englewood-Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, T. K. 1983 Mortality Pattern of Isolated Indians in Northwestern Ontario: A 10-Year Review. Public Health Reports 96(5): 467–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zborowski, M. 1952 Cultural Components in Response to Pain. The Journal of Social Issues 8: 16–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zola, I. K. 1966 Culture and Symptoms: An Analysis of Patients Presenting Complaints. American Sociological Review 31(5): 615–630.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Sociology, The University of Alberta, MG 2H4, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Frank Trovato

Authors
  1. Frank Trovato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Trovato, F. Mortality differentials in Canada, 1951–1971: French, British, and Indians. Cult Med Psych 12, 459–477 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054498

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054498

Keywords

Search

Navigation