Introduction
There is a paucity of information about the impact of mood and anxiety disorders
on Canadians and the approaches used to manage them. To address this gap, the 2014
Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada–Mood and Anxiety Disorders Component
(SLCDC-MA) was developed. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology of
the 2014 SLCDC-MA and examine the sociodemographic characteristics of the final sample.
Methods
The 2014 SLCDC-MA is a cross-sectional follow-up survey that includes
Canadians from the 10 provinces aged 18 years and older with mood and/or anxiety
disorders diagnosed by a health professional that are expected to last, or have already
lasted, six months or more. The survey was developed by the Public Health Agency of
Canada (PHAC) through an iterative, consultative process with Statistics Canada and
external experts. Statistics Canada performed content testing, designed the sampling
frame and strategies and collected and processed the data. PHAC used descriptive analyses
to describe the respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics, produced nationally
representative estimates using survey weights provided by Statistics Canada, and generated
variance estimates using bootstrap methodology.
Results
The final 2014 SLCDC-MA sample consists of a total of 3361 respondents (68.9%
response rate). Among Canadian adults with mood and/or anxiety disorders, close to twothirds
(64%) were female, over half (56%) were married/in a common-law relationship and
60% obtained a post-secondary education. Most were young or middle-aged (85%),
Canadian born (88%), of non-Aboriginal status (95%), and resided in an urban setting
(82%). Household income was fairly evenly distributed between the adequacy quintiles;
however, individuals were more likely to report a household income adequacy within the
lowest (23%) versus highest (17%) quintile. Forty-five percent reported having a mood disorder
only, 24% an anxiety disorder only and 31% both kinds of disorder.
Conclusion
The 2014 SLCDC-MA is the only national household survey to collect information
on the experiences of Canadians living with a professionally diagnosed mood and/or
anxiety disorder. The information collected offers insights into areas where additional support
or interventions may be needed and provides baseline information for future public
health research in the area of mental illness.
Introduction
