Functional health status

Proportion of the population by overall functional health, based on 8 dimensions of functioning (vision, hearing, speech, mobility, dexterity, feelings, cognition and pain).

Often reported as:

Very good or perfect functional health (score of 0.8 to 1.0 on the Health Utilities Index).

This indicator is derived from information collected in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).

The CCHS includes two measures of functional health in alternating two-year cycles: the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) and the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) disability measure. The WG measure is used as an internationally comparable measure of disability, while the HUI3 provides a measure of health-related quality of life. The HUI3 is also measured in utility values—scores that describe people's preferences for different states of health—and is important for deriving standard economic, clinical and population health measures.

This measure uses the Health Utilities Index (HUI) which is a multi-attribute health status classification system originally developed at McMaster University for measuring generic health status and health-related quality of life. The HUI considers the responses to health questions that cover 8 dimensions of functioning (vision, hearing, speech, mobility, dexterity, feelings, cognition and pain).

The version of the HUI used by the CCHS has been adapted from the HUI Mark 3 (HUI3). The questions are slightly different than the original HUI3. This instrument allows the calculation of a generic health status index based on attributes found in two different CCHS modules: the Health utilities index (HUI) and Health utilities index - Pain and discomfort (HUP). More information can be found in the following article by Feeny et al. (2002): Multi-attribute and single-attribute utility functions for the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 system.

People reporting chronic conditions, activity restrictions, and fair/poor self-rated health (general and mental) were more likely to be in the moderate and severe disability categories.

• Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY)
  • Table 13-10-0902-01 – Changes in functional difficulties among children and youth between 2019 and 2023, Canadian Health Survey of Children and youth, 2023 Longitudinal sample
  • Table 13-10-0951-01 – Functional difficulties of children and youth aged 5 to 17 years, Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, 2023
  • Table 13-10-0952-01 – Functional difficulties of children aged 2 to 4 years, Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, 2023
  • Table 13-10-0765-01 - Functional difficulties for children aged 5 to 17 years, Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth 2019
  • Table 13-10-0764-01 - Functional difficulties for children aged 2 to 4 years, Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth 2019

• Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)
  • Table 13-10-0451-01 – Health indicators, annual estimates, 2003 - 2014
  • Table 13-10-0611-01 – Functional health status, by age group and sex, household population aged 12 years and over, Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2.1 and 3.1), Canada, provinces and territories
  • Table 13-10-0464-01 – Health indicators, two-year period estimates, census metropolitan areas

• Functional health difficulties among lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Canada (Studies on Gender and Intersecting Identities, November 8, 2023)
• Study: Functional health difficulties among lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Canada (The Daily, November 8, 2023)

More information on the Health Utilities Index (HUI) can be found in the following article by Horsman et al. (2003): The Health Utilities Index (HUI): concepts, measurement properties and applications

More information on the Washington Group (WG) measure of disability can be found here:

• Mapping the Washington Group on Disability Statistics Disability Measure to the Health Utilities Index Mark 3: Development and Testing of Qualitative and Predictive Multivariable Models in a General Population Sample (Analytical Studies: Methods and References, February 3, 2025)
• Using instrument mapping to fill data gaps in functional health (The Daily, February 2, 2025)