Overview, study population and study design
We carried out a population-based study to evaluate usage of
preoperative anesthesia consultation in . is the largest province in ,
with a population of over 14 million residents. The Canadian healthcare
system is a publically funded and administered system, governed by the
Canada Health Act. This Act mandates comprehensive universal coverage
for all medically necessary services, including medical (anesthesiology)
consultations. Private health insurance for these services is
prohibited. As such, these consults are available to all persons
equally, and the data sources were population-based. Patients were
excluded if a valid patient identifier was not available, if age/sex
information was missing, or if residency was outside of . This study was
approved by the Queen’s University Health Sciences & Affiliated
Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board, project #6025862.