Publications

These publications are examples of research made possible with data from CanPath and its regional cohorts.

2023

Provincial variation in colorectal cancer screening adherence in Canada; evidence from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health

Authors: Maryam Darvishian, Amina Moustaqim-Barrette, Philip Awadalla, Parveen Bhatti, Philippe Broet, Kelly McDonald, Rachel A. Murphy, Kimberly Skead, Robin Urquhart, Jennifer Vena, Trevor J. B. Dummer

The researchers sought to assess regional variation in screening uptake, identify factors to non-adherence to screening, and estimate adherence to screening in those with differing risk profiles. Using national CanPath data, they found adherence suboptimal amongst Canadians and noticed variation by region.

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2023

Mental health service use and associated predisposing, enabling and need factors in community living adults and older adults across Canada

Authors: Helen-Maria Vasiliadis, Jessica Spagnolo, Marie-Josée Fleury, Jean-Philippe Gouin, Pasquale Roberge, Mary Bartram, Sébastien Grenier, Grace Shen-Tu, Jennifer E. Vena, JianLi Wang

The authors utilized data from the CanPath COVID-19 health survey (May to December 2020) to conduct multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the association between mental health service use (MHSU) and predisposing, enabling, and need factors — derived from Andersen’s model of healthcare-seeking behaviour — among five regional cohorts. Among the 45,542 adults in the study population, 6.3% of respondents reported MHSU and need factors were consistently associated with MHSU.

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2022

Prediction of Cardiovascular Events by Pulse Waveform Parameters: Analysis of CARTaGENE

Authors: Louis-Charles Desbiens, Catherine Fortier, Annie-Claire Nadeau-Fredette, François Madore, Bernhard Hametner, Siegfried Wassertheurer, Mohsen Agharazii, Rémi Goupil

Researchers conducted the largest study to date evaluating non-invasive pulse waveform parameters’ association with cardiovascular events. By adding two waveform parameters to the existing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score, they improved cardiovascular prediction and reclassified up to 5.7% of patients in another risk category.

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2022

Harnessing the power of data linkage to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada

Authors: Robin Urquhart, Philip Awadalla, Parveen Bhatti, Trevor Dummer, Simon Gravel, Jennifer Vena, Riaz Alvi, Philippe Broet, Cynthia Kendell, Victoria Kirsh, Guillaume Lettre, Kimberly Skead, Grace Shen-Tu, Ellen Sweeney, Donna Turner

This abstract discusses a project aimed at linking cancer registry and administrative health data to Canada’s largest population health study, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath). The project seeks to enrich the cancer research ecosystem in Canada by providing researchers with a comprehensive dataset that includes genetics, environment, lifestyle, and behaviour data. The linked data will be made available through a cloud-based solution called the CanPath Data Safe Haven, which is accessible to researchers through secure access. The project will address concerns related to the accessibility of cancer data in Canada, bring more value to existing data, and support an enhanced understanding of the impacts of cancer on marginalized populations.

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2022

Evaluation of Adiposity and Cognitive Function in Adults

Authors: Sonia S. Anand, Matthias G. Friedrich, Douglas S. Lee, Phillip Awadalla, J. P. Després, Dipika Desai, Russell J. de Souza, Trevor Dummer, Grace Parraga, Eric Larose, Scott A. Lear, Koon K. Teo, Paul Poirier, Karleen M. Schulze, Dorota Szczesniak, Jean-Claude Tardif, Jennifer Vena, Katarzyna Zatonska, Salim Yusuf, Eric E. Smith, the Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM), the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) Study Investigators

Researchers sought to undercover the association between adipose tissue (amount and distribution) and cognitive scores. Using data from 9,189 participants, they found that higher visceral adipose tissue and body fat percentage correlated with increased vascular brain injuries and cardiovascular risk factors, as well as lower cognitive scores.

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2021

Predictors of long-term use of prescription opioids in the community-dwelling population of adults without a cancer diagnosis: a retrospective cohort study

Authors: Audrey Béliveau, Anne-Marie Castilloux, Cara Tannenbaum, Philippe Vincent, Cristiano Soares de Moura, Sasha Bernatsky, Yola Moride

This study aimed to identify risk factors for and predictors of long-term use of prescription opioids in the community-dwelling population of adults without a diagnosis of cancer, to inform practice change at the point of care. It was found that limiting the initial supply to no more than 7 days and limiting doses to 90 MME/day or less are actions that could be undertaken at the point of care to prevent long-term use.

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2021

Investigating the causal role of MRE11A p.E506* in breast and ovarian cancer

Authors: Islam Elkholi, Massimo Di Iorio, Somayyeh Fahiminiya, Suzanna Arcand, HyeRim Han, Clara Nogué, Supriya Behl, Nancy Hamel, Sylvie Giroux, Manon de Ladurantaye, Olga Aleynikova, Walter Gotlieb, Jean-François Côté, François Rousseau, Patricia Tonin, Diane Provencher, Anne-Marie MesMasson, Mohammad Akbari, Barbara Rivera, William Foulkes

This study investigated if MRE11A is a true predisposition gene for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Investigations suggested that the identified variant is not associated with an increased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer, and suggests a lack of clinical utility of MRE11A testing in HBOC, at least in the White/Caucasian populations.

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