ARCHIVED: Report on Sexually Transmitted Infections in Canada: 2008 – Technical notes

 

Technical Notes

Case reporting: Currently, some jurisdictions report to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) using aggregate case counts instead of case-by-case reporting. Selected variables submitted by all 13 jurisdictions are: age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, province/territory of diagnosis, and sex. As such, national reporting is limited to analyses of these variables.

Reporting delay: A time delay may occur between when a person is tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and when the report is received at PHAC. This time lag is referred to as reporting delay. In cases where there are discrepancies between data reported by PHAC and those reported by individual provinces and territories, provincial/territorial data should be considered to be more accurate as they are the most current. The 2008 data presented in this report are also preliminary and subject to change.

Underreporting: The number of reported cases likely underestimates the true burden of infection in a given population for a variety of reasons. For example, many people who are infected with STIs do not exhibit symptoms and therefore may not present to a healthcare practitioner for testing.

Annual trends: Observed trends must be interpreted with caution since there are a number of factors that contribute to changes:

  • Rates based on small numbers are more prone to fluctuation over time; and
  • There may be changes to testing patterns due to improved diagnostic capabilities, improved duplicate removal, and reporting delay.

2005 data: Reported cases for Ontario in 2005 are underestimates due to a transition in the provincial reporting system. Decreases for 2005 are likely an artifact of reporting delay, not a true reduction in disease incidence. Canadian cases and rates for 2005 are affected.

Population data source: Statistics Canada, Demography Division, Demographic Estimates Section, July Population Estimates, 1999–2000 final intercensal estimates, 2001–2003 final postcensal estimates, 2004–2008 updated postcensal estimates, 2008 preliminary postcensal estimates.

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