2019-05-30 from theglobeandmail.com

More Canadians are hospitalized per day for health conditions and injuries caused by alcohol or drugs than for heart attacks and strokes combined, according to new data released on Thursday.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recorded 156,108 hospital stays that were a direct result of substance use, including alcohol, cannabis, opioids and other drugs, between April of 2017 and March of 2018. That amounted to more than 400 Canadians hospitalized per day – with alcohol as the major cause of harm.

Alcohol contributed to more than half of these hospital stays, while three out of four deaths in hospital caused by substance use were due to alcohol.

“Harmful substance use is an important health issue in Canada, all across the country, and [this data] draws attention to the high use of hospital services,” said Kathleen Morris, vice-president of research and analysis at CIHI.

She added: “It impacts not only the person who is hospitalized, but their broader circle of family, friends, community.”

The hospitalization rates for substance use are one of three new indicators, or areas being measured by CIHI, that the not-for-profit organization released on Thursday, providing data to evaluate and track changes in Canadian health care. The other areas are the frequency of emergency department visits by people seeking help for mental-health issues or addictions, and the length of extended hospital stays for individuals awaiting home-care services and supports.

CIHI found nearly 10 per cent of Canadians who visited an emergency department for help with mental-health issues or addictions had more than four visits a year, while one in 12 hospital patients had their stay extended until their home-care services were ready.

Ms. Morris said this new data fills an information gap, and provides a basis on which decision makers can create plans to make improvements and monitor results over time.

Read more here