Statistics Canada report on caregivers

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 55, No. 9, November 2013, Page 417 News

In 2012 about 8.1 million individuals (28% of Canadians aged 15 years and older) provided care to a family member or friend with a long-term health condition, disability, or health care needs related to aging. Data from the 2012 General Social Survey show that women represented the slight majority of caregivers at 54%. The survey also found that caregiving responsibilities most often fell to those aged 45 to 64, with 44% of caregivers in this age category.

Caregivers’ parents were the most common recipients of care, with 39% of caregivers looking after the needs of their own parents and another 9% doing so for their parents-in-law. The least common were spouses, at 8%, and children, at 5%.

The survey also looked at the types of health conditions requiring care. Age-related needs topped the list, with 28% of caregivers providing care for these needs. Cancer was next at 11%, followed by cardiovascular di-sease at 9%, and mental illness at 7%.

The most common type of assistance provided was transportation, with 73% of all caregivers providing transportation for the purpose of shopping or attending medical appointments. The next most frequent types of activities were house cleaning and meal preparation at 51%, followed by house maintenance and outdoor work at 45%. Tasks like medical treatments and personal care, such as help with bathing and dressing, were provided by fewer than 1 in 4 caregivers. However, two-thirds of those who performed these activities did so at least once a week. 

Overall, caregivers typically spent 3 hours per week caring for an ill or disabled family member or friend; however, this amount varied depending on the relationship between the caregiver and care receiver. 

The full report can be viewed at www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130910/dq130910a-eng.pdf.

. Statistics Canada report on caregivers. BCMJ, Vol. 55, No. 9, November, 2013, Page(s) 417 - News.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply