Public Health Ontario

The HEADSpAcE Data Center: An international data and biospecimen resource for head and neck cancer translational research

Head and neck cancer (HNC) comprises a heterogeneous group of malignancies with substantial variation in incidence, risk factors, and outcomes across populations. Existing studies are often limited by regional scope or lack integration of epidemiological, clinical, and molecular...

Reported policy impacts through intersectoral action as a public health practice for health equity: a rapid scoping review

Advancing health equity is a priority for public health. As much of what influences health equity lies outside health systems, working intersectorally to intervene on the structural and social determinants of health is a foundational public health practice to advance this aim. Th...

Impact of Primary Prophylactic Colony-Stimulating Factor Delivery Method on Febrile Neutropenia: Secondary Analysis of a Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose Primary prophylactic colony-stimulating factor (PP-CSF) is recommended for patients receiving chemotherapy with high risk of febrile neutropenia (FN). The impact of PP-CSF delivery method on FN is unknown. We performed a secondary analysis of SWOG S1415CD (Trial Assessing...

Severe mental illness in the MENAT region: systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and comorbidities

Abstract Background Severe mental illnesses (SMIs), including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorders, and severe major depressive disorder (MDD), contribute substantially to disability and premature mortality worldwide. Evidence from the Middle East, North Africa, an...

Reconsidering the Alberta study of the closure of the Red Deer supervised consumption site

Supervised consumption sites (SCS) are interventions supported by decades of evidence and yet remain subject to considerable politicization. Recently, researchers from Alberta, Canada published a study in the journal Addiction that sought to assess the impacts of the closure of a...

Ethical guidance for randomized controlled trials of donor interventions in deceased organ donation: a scoping review of international guidelines, consensus statements, and expert recommendations

Deceased donor interventions are nontherapeutic interventions to improve the likelihood of successful donation and transplant outcomes. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) could strengthen the evidence base for donor interventions, but such trials face difficult ethical challenge...

Negotiating consent, sexualized substance use, and digital platforms among two-spirit, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer men: Perceptions of Canadian service providers

The interplay of digital platforms and sexualized substance use has reshaped Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (2SGBTQ) men’s sociality and wellbeing. 2SGBTQ men use digital platforms and sexualized substances at unprecedented rates. The overall aim of this research was...

Trends in opioid containing drug seizures described as pills between 2020 and 2024 in Canada

People who use drugs may access prescription opioids from unregulated markets to avoid fentanyl and lower toxicity risk, though concerns regarding counterfeit pills have emerged. To better understand the composition of pills that may be circulating in the unregulated drug supply,...

Contribution of Adolescent Movement Behaviours to Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adult Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Causal Decomposition in a Population-Based Cohort

Abstract Addressing unhealthy movement behaviours in adolescence could reduce socioeconomic inequalities in adult cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Among 6608 adolescents enrolled in the Add Health cohort (1994-1995) and followed into adulthood (2016-2018), movement behaviours (...

Developing a vision for public health surveillance in Canada: An engagement and expert consensus process

Abstract Objective Public health surveillance (PHS) supports the detection of health threats, monitoring of population health, and coordinated public health action. While its core functions remain unchanged, Canada’s last national vision for PHS was articulated in 2016, and the p...

Respiratory Syncytial Virus–Related Hospitalizations Among Infants Receiving Nirsevimab

Importance Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of hospitalization among infants. Nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody that protects against severe RSV, was publicly funded for all infants in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec starting in the fa...

Balancing data quality and participant burden: a comparative analysis of abbreviated vs extended symptom diaries in the CanTreatCOVID trial

Abstract Background Symptom diaries are widely used in acute respiratory infection trials to capture patient-reported symptom severity and recovery. Longer questionnaires may provide a more complete clinical picture but can increase participant burden and reduce adherence. Eviden...

Motivational profiles and exercise in late adolescents: a cross-sectional study of autonomy and behavioral engagement

Abstract Objective Physical inactivity among adolescents is a worldwide public health concern. This study investigated the psychological motivation of adolescent exercise and the mechanisms by which diverse motives translate into actual behavioral engagement. We aimed to provide...

One of the Best Parts – Workplace Walk-Throughs: Findings from a 2025 Canadian Survey of Physicians Practicing in Occupational Medicine

Objective: Workplace walk-throughs (WWs) are a sine qua non for gaining experience on how workplace hazards affect health. This study examines physicians’ experiences participating in WWs. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined responses from a module on WWs in a 2025 onlin...

Presumptive Coverage Policies and Workers’ Compensation of Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder and Other Mental Health Conditions: A Retrospective Time‐Series Study in Canada 2001–2019

BACKGROUND: The impact of presumptive coverage policies for work-related mental health disorders has not been extensively studied to date. Using data from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), our objectives were to describe the evolution of compensat...

Quantitative assessment of national essential medicines lists processes: a descriptive study of 143 countries

The National Essential Medicines List (NEML) selection process is a foundational component of an essential medicines based policy, and the NEML itself is a key policy tool. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides guidance for policy development that aligns with the Accountab...

Trends in HIV prevention outcomes among Northern and Indigenous adolescents: A repeated cross-sectional study of arts-based sexual health workshops in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Background: Arts-based sexual health workshops may improve adolescent sexual health, yet limited studies have evaluated outcome trends over time. This study examined HIV prevention outcomes before and after school-based workshop participation among adolescents in the Northwest Te...

Cholera in Zambia: Evaluating Emergency Response and the Limits of Reactive Public Health Systems

Abstract Cholera remains a recurrent public health challenge in Zambia, with repeated outbreaks disproportionately affecting low-income urban and peri-urban populations, particularly in Lusaka Province. Seasonal rainfall and flooding intensified by climate change repeatedly overw...

Storytelling as a public health competency: a call for training that responds to contemporary challenges

Public health has long emphasized letting quantitative data “tell the story”. Large, representative datasets allow researchers to answer questions about disease occurrence, risk, and interventions with rigor and precision. Yet, for many small, heterogeneous, historically-neglecte...

How precariously employed gay, bisexual, and queer immigrant and refugee men in Toronto make meaning of work, health, and wellbeing

Abstract Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people experience mental health and trauma outcomes as a result of systemic exclusion from the labour market in Canada, with less known about intersectional labour precarity for LGBTQ+ immigrants. How LGBTQ+ immigra...