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Background: Food insecurity is associated with a wide array of negative health outcomes and higher health care costs but there has been no population-based study of the association of food insecurity and mortality in high-income countries. Methods: We use cross-sectional population surveys linked to encoded health administrative data. The sample is 90,368 adults, living in Ontario and respondents in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). The outcome of interest is all-cause mortality at any time after the interview and within four years of the interview. The primary variable of interest is food insecurity status, with individuals classed as “food secure”, “marginally food insecure”, “moderately food insecure”, or “severely food insecure”. We use logistic regression models to determine the association of mortality with food insecurity status, adjusting for other social determinants of health. Results: Using a full set of covariates, in comparison to food secure individuals, the odds of death at any point after the interview are 1.28 (CI = 1.08, 1.52) for marginally food insecure individuals, 1.49 (CI = 1.29, 1.73) for moderately food insecure individuals, and 2.60 (CI = 2.17, 3.12) for severely food insecure individuals. When mortality within four years of the interview is considered, the odds are, respectively, 1.19 (CI = 0.95, 1.50), 1.65 (CI = 1.37, 1.98), and 2.31 (CI = 1.81, 2.93). Interpretation: These findings demonstrate that food insecurity is associated with higher mortality rates and these higher rates are especially large for the most severe food insecurity category. Efforts to reduce food insecurity should be incorporated into broader public health initiatives to reduce mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, Indigenous women are more likely than non-Indigenous women to be survivors of sexual assault and experience sexual assaults that are more serious in terms of physical injury and other health-related consequences. Despite their related needs for care and support, there is a paucity of research to date that has examined their uptake of specialized acute health services post sexual assault. To address this gap, we explored the presentation, sociodemographic, assailant, assault, and service use characteristics of Indigenous women, as compared to non-Indigenous adult and adolescent women aged 12 and older presenting to 30 of 35 hospital-based sexual assault treatment centres in Ontario from 2009 to 2011, using bivariate analyses. Of the 948 women in our sample, 116 (12%) identified as being Indigenous. Indigenous survivors differed significantly from non-Indigenous survivors on many presentation, sociodemographic, and assault characteristics. For example, they were more likely to present to a hospital within 24 hours of being assaulted and a treatment centre serving a primarily rural population. They tended to be younger, were more likely to be living in an institutional setting, report community or group affiliations and government or community services as sources of social support, and be assaulted by a parent, guardian, or other relative. In terms of receipt of services, they were more likely to have undergone safety planning and to be referred to child protection or community agencies. They reported high levels of satisfaction with the services received, however, were less likely than non-Indigenous survivors to rate the overall care provided as excellent or good. On the whole, the results of our study suggest that Indigenous women value acute hospital-based sexual assault services. However, they experience sexual assaults in contexts different from non-Indigenous survivors. It is important for health care providers to be attuned to this so that they can appropriately respond to their unique needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]