Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MSc)

Department

Health Science

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

First Advisor

Todd Coleman

Advisor Role

Graduate Supervisor

Second Advisor

Ketan Shankardass

Advisor Role

Committee Member

Third Advisor

David Soave

Advisor Role

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor

Frank Kachanoff

Advisor Role

Committee Member

Abstract

Background - Sexual Minority (SM) groups include individuals whose sexual orientation, identity, or practice differs from most of society. Despite a large amount of diversity in identities, which incorporate sex assigned at birth, gender, or both, in forming differing orientations, SM groups share similarities in experiences of stress, stigma, prejudice, and discrimination, which are associated with increased rates of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, in comparison to the general population.

Objectives – The main objective of this study is to employ theoretical frameworks such as the Ecosocial and Intersectionality theories to investigate all-cause mortality by sexual orientation in Canada utilizing data from a large representative sample of Canadians between 2003-2017.

Methods - This study is a survival analysis conducted using data from the joint database composed of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database (CVSD). Different demographic and socioeconomic variables were selected from the different years of the CCHS, and participants were matched with their respective entries in the CVSD based on their response ID-s. Descriptive statistics were calculated for both categorical and continuous data and Cox Proportional Hazard (CPH) models were fitted to analyze both bivariate and multivariate associations.

Results – Results from this study displayed significant associations on both the bivariate and multivariate levels for both the crude and intersectional analyses. The multivariate models showcased increased odds of all-cause mortality in SM groups while incorporating significant confounders such as age, sex, sexual orientation, income, ethnoracial identity, education, income, life stress, and self-reported physical and mental health.

Convocation Year

2026

Convocation Season

Fall

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