Applying an equity and intersectionality lens to understanding the burden of arthritis on aging Canadians

Project Summary

Patients with arthritis have different health outcomes, many of which are because of factors out of their control, such as their race, sex, gender identity, or age, to name a few. It is important to think of how these factors (social determinants of health), can individually affect outcomes, as well as how they can interact to affect outcomes. Our research will investigate relationships between these social determinants of health and how they impact arthritis. Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA), we will first map CLSA variables to social determinants of health. We will then explore relationships between these mapped variables. We will also identify distinct groups of people with arthritis according to different social determiants of health. By doing this, we can understand whether these groups experience arthritis differently and if certain factors are associated with worse arthritis outcomes.