Disability and Social Isolation in Canada: Evidence Beyond Chronic Disease Categories

• In Event: Disability in Society Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3. Social Participation and Connections

Abstract

Chronic conditions are highly prevalent in Canada and are commonly examined as a single, aggregated exposure in population research on social isolation. Such approaches emphasize overall disease burden but make it difficult to distinguish the independent contributions of diagnostic category, chronic pain, and functional disability. In this study, we examine these dimensions separately to assess how each is associated with social isolation among Canadian adults.
Using the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey (n = 9861), the association between chronic conditions, chronic pain, and disability in relation to social support was assessed, using the social provision scale (SPS-10), applying multivariable linear regression.
More severe disability was negatively associated with social support [B = -0.09 (95% CI = -0.11, -0.08)]. Those with more functional impairments experienced lower social support which typically indicates greater social isolation.
When examined jointly, functional disability, but not chronic disease category or chronic pain, was independently associated with lower social support. These findings indicate that social isolation among Canadian adults is more closely related to functional limitation than to diagnostic labels, underscoring the importance of function-focused approaches in research and intervention.

Authors

• Fabio Robibaro, University of Toronto

• Dorian Ditomasso Ditomasso, University of Toronto