Rates by region and substance

Interior Health Authority (785 per 100,000 residents) had the highest rate of hospitalizations in BC in 2015 followed by Northern (723 per 100,000 residents), Island 613 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal (373 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser (364 per 100,000 residents) health authorities. 

Interior (43 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest overall rate of deaths for conditions attributable to alcohol in BC in 2014, followed by Island (36 per 100,000 residents), Northern (35 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal (19 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser Health Authority (19 per 100,000 residents).

Health Authority - Deaths

Interior (38.87 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest overall rate of deaths for medical conditions estimated to have been caused by alcohol in BC in 2013, followed by Island (37.29 per 100,000 residents), Northern (31.1 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal (19.21 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser Health Authority (16.3 per 100,000 residents). This represented an increase over 2013 numbers in every health authority except Fraser.

Health Authority - Hospitalizations

Interior Health (777.2 per 100,000 residents) had the highest rate of hospitalizations in BC in 2013 for conditions estimated to have been cause by alcohol followed by Northern (728.62 per 100,000 residents), Island (596.56 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal health authorities (389.76 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser (354.27 per 100,000 residents). This represented an increase in every health authority except Fraser, although the Fraser decrease was very small (355.51 down to 354.27). Interior saw the largest increase, going from 696.13 in 2012 to 777.2 in 2013.

Health Service Delivery Area - Deaths

The three health service delivery areas that have the highest rates of deaths related to conditions attributable to alcohol use in 2013 are Central Vancouver Island (44.57 per 100,000 residents) Thompson Cariboo Shuswap (42.96 per 100,000 residents), and North Vancouver Island (39.71 per 100,000 residents). The three health service delivery areas that have the lowest rates of deaths related to conditions attributable to alcohol use are Richmond (12.3 per 100,000 residents), Fraser North (13.51 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser South (17.18 per 100,000 residents. All three HSDAs with the lowest rates saw decreases over 2012, while the three with the highest rates all saw increases. 

Health Service Delivery Area - Hospitalizations

There are 16 health service delivery areas that make up the five health authorities in the province of BC. As shown here, the three health service delivery areas with the highest rates of hospitalizations for conditions attributable to alcohol use were Northwest (927.4 per 100,000 residents), Kootenay Boundary (775.37 per 100,000 residents) and East Kootenay (727.11 per 100,000 residents). The three health service delivery areas with the lowest rates of hospitalizations attributable to alcohol use were Fraser North (333.27 per 100,000 residents), Richmond (337.93 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser South (346.73 per 100,000 residents). All six of these HSDAs saw increases in hospitalization rates over 2012 numbers.

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• Hospitalizations are calculated by events not by individuals so there may be some individuals with multiple attendances.
• These rates are age and sex standardized
• Alcohol-attributed numbers do not include the following conditions: diabetes, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic stroke, and haemorrhagic stroke (female only)
• Moderate alcohol has a net protective effect on these conditions and it is not possible to separate the number of alcohol-attributed and prevented deaths and hospitalizations
• A further 10% was added to the BC per capita consumption data to account for unrecorded alcohol consumption.
• Estimates of mortality for the last 2 years may be underestimated due to delay in reporting
• Some Y axes have been truncated to better display the range of data
• Significance was determined via a hypothesis test for the slope of the regression line, which tests for a linear relationship between rate and year

Overall, Interior Health Authority (158 per 100,000 residents) had the highest rate of hospital discharges for conditions estimated to have been caused by illicit drug use in BC in 2015, followed by Northern (139 per 100,000 residents), Island (126 per 100,000 residents), Fraser (115 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (101 per 100,000 residents) health authorities. 

Northern (10 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest rate of deaths for conditions attributable to illicit drug use in BC in 2014, followed by Interior (9 per 100,000 resident), Island (8.6 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal (8 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser (7.7 per 100,000 residents) health authorities.

Health Authority - Hospitalizations and deaths

Island (9.44 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest rate of deaths for conditions related to illicit drug use in BC in 2013, followed by Interior (8.43 per 100,000 residents), Northern (8.23 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver Coastal (6.56 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser (5.95 per 100,000 residents) health authorities. This represented an increase over 2012 figures in all health authorities except Fraser, with Island jumping from 7.02 to 9.44.

Interior Health (140.38 per 100,000 residents) had the highest rate of hospital discharges for conditions estimated to have been cause by illicit drug use in BC in 2013 followed by Northern (124.6 per 100,000 residents), Island (112.59 per 100,000 residents), Fraser (91.52 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (88.7 per 100,000 residents). All health authorities except Northern saw an increase over 2012.

Health Service Delivery Area - Hospitalizations and deaths

The three health service delivery areas that have the highest rates of deaths related to conditions attributable to illicit drug use in 2013 are North Vancouver Island (13.45 per 100,000 residents), East Kootenay (11.75 per 100,000 population) and Central Vancouver Island (11.71 per 100,000 residents). The three health service delivery areas that have the lowest rates of deaths related to medical conditions estimated to have been caused by illicit drug use are Richmond (1.43 per 100,000 residents), Fraser North (5.02 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser South (6.2 per 100,000 residents). All three of the highest-rated HSDAs saw increases over 2012 numbers, with Easy Kootenay and Central Vancouver Island seeing significant increases (their 2012 rates were 5.83 and 6.72, respectively). Fraser North and Richmond both saw decreases over 2012 rates, although Richmond's reduction was small (1.43 to 1.42).

There are 16 health service delivery areas that make up the five health authorities in the province of BC. The three health service delivery areas with the highest rates of hospitalizations for conditions attributable to illicit drug use in 2013 are Thompson Cariboo Shuswap (145.88 per 100,000 residents), Northern Interior (144.82 per 100,000) and Okanagan (142.68 per 100,000 residents). The three health service delivery areas with the lowest rates of hospitalizations attributable to illicit drug use in 2013 are North Shore/Coast Garibaldi (66.13 per 100,000 residents), Richmond (67.8 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser South (81.54 per 100,000 residents). North Vancouver Island was the only HSDA to see a reduction in illicit-drug-related hospitalizations in 2013 over 2012 figures.

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• Death rates attributable to illicit drugs are likely unstable, especially in Northern Health Authority, as numbers are small.
• These rates are age and sex standardized.
• Estimates of mortality for the last 2 years may be underestimated due to delay in reporting.
• Some Y axes have been truncated to better display the range of data.
• Significance was determined via a hypothesis test for the slope of the regression line, which tests for a linear relationship between rate and year.

In 2015, Interior Health Authority (705 per 100,000 residents) had the highest overall rate of hospital discharges for conditions attributable to tobacco use followed by Northern (562 per 100,000 residents), Island (545 per 100,000 residents), Fraser (525 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (390 per 100,000 residents) health authorities. 

Island (115 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest rate of deaths attributable to tobacco-attributable conditions in 2014 followed by Interior (114 per 100,000 residents) and Northern (78 per 100,000 residents) then Fraser (73 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (62 per 100,000 residents) health authorities.

Health Authority - Hospitalizations and deaths

Interior (121.49 per 100,000 residents) was the health authority with the highest rate of deaths attributable to tobacco related conditions in 2013 followed by Island (112.13 per 100,000 residents), Fraser (72.78 per 100,000 residents), Northern (73.3 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (63.14per 100,000 residents) health authorities. Fraser and Vancouver Coastal both saw lower rates in 2013 than in 2012.

In 2013, Interior Health Authority (713.22 per 100,000 residents) had the highest overall rate of hospital discharges for conditions estimated to have been caused by tobacco use followed by Northern Health Authority (559.11 per 100,000 residents), Island (553.98 per 100,000 residents), Fraser (527.57 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver Coastal (412.87 per 100,000 residents) health authorities. Northern was the only health authority to see a decrease in rates over 2012.

Health Service Delivery Area - Hospitalizations and deaths

The three health service delivery areas that have the highest rates of deaths related to medical conditions estimated to have been caused by tobacco use in 2013 are Okanagan (134.47 per 100,000 residents), Kootenay Boundary (126.49 per 100,000 residents) and Central Vancouver Island (124.12 per 100,000 residents. The three health service delivery areas that have the lowest rates of deaths related to conditions attributable to tobacco use in 2013 are Richmond (51.75 per 100,000 residents), Northwest (57.77 per 100,000 residents) and Vancouver (63.35 per 100,000 residents).  

There are 16 health service delivery areas that make up the five health authorities in the province of BC. The three health service delivery areas with the highest rates of hospitalizations for conditions attributable to tobacco use in 2013 are Okanagan (761.18 per 100,000 residents), Kootenay Boundary (696.38 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser East (686.72 per 100,000 residents). The three health service delivery areas with the lowest rates of hospitalizations attributable to tobacco use in 2013 are Richmond (345.96 per 100,000 residents), Vancouver (403.57 per 100,000 residents) and Fraser North (454.46 per 100,000 residents). 

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Download 2012 maps

• These rates are age and sex standardized.
• Estimates of mortality for the last 2 years may be underestimated due to delay in reporting.
• Some Y axes have been truncated to better display the range of data.
• Significance was determined via a hypothesis test for the slope of the regression line, which tests for a linear relationship between rate and year.