Rates by age and gender

Hospitalization and death rates attributable to alcohol tended to increase with age. Males also showed substantially higher rates than females for both morbidity and mortality attributable to alcohol in BC between 2002 and 2015. For alcohol-attributable hospitalizations and deaths, rates for females were about half those of males in BC.

Hospitalizations

Between 2002 and 2014, there were increases in rates of alcohol-attributable hospitalizations in nearly all age groups.

Deaths

Alcohol-attributable deaths were much higher among both males and females over age 80. There were  decreasing rates of deaths estimated to have been caused by alcohol among females aged 0 to 14 years, males aged 15 to 29 years, males aged 30 to 44 years and males aged 70 to 79 years old between 2002 and 2014 in BC.

Females had lower rates of hospitalizations and deaths attributable to illicit drugs than males overall in BC between 2002 and 2015, although not as large a gap as seen in alcohol.

Note: data in this section reflects the latest complete statistics on illicit-drug-related deaths and hospitalizations, including causes other than overdose. For more current statistics on deaths due to illicit drug overdoses in BC, please visit the BC Coroners Service website.

Hospitalizations

Males between 30 and 44 years of age had the highest rates of illicit-drug attributable drug hospitalizations overall. Hospitalizations rates attributable to illicit drugs among females were highest among those aged 15-29 in the most recent year. 

Deaths estimated to have been caused by illicit drugs were highest for both males and females aged 30-44 years old in the most recent year (2014). 

There may be a lag in reporting for illicit-drug-attribuatable deaths, meaning numbers for recent years may increase. Most illicit drug-attributable deaths are classified as acute in coronary reports, and acute cases are most likely to be affected by lag times.

As tobacco-attributable hospitalizations and deaths tend to manifest over a number of years, rates were substantially higher for the age group of 65 and over in BC between 2002 and 2015. Rates were higher for males than for females in all age groups. Slightly elevated rates of tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality among the <1 age group may be due to complications from pregnant females smoking leading to low birth weight, preterm deliveries and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Hospitalizations

Deaths

Tobacco-related deaths have decreased over 2013 in most categories, with the exception of males aged 70+ and women aged 60-69. However, rates have fallen in almost every category since 2002, with the exception of females aged 15-29, although this was a very small rate to begin with (<1 per 100,000 population).