Canadian Risk Factor Atlas (CRFA) : COVID-19 pandemic trends

The Canadian Risk Factor Atlas (CRFA) is an interactive database that shows the prevalence of several key chronic disease risk factors. The COVID-19 Pandemic Trends page presents changes in the prevalence of chronic disease risk factors from before the pandemic compared to during the pandemic by sex and age groups and by various sociodemographic characteristics.

  • Last updated: 2024-11-20

Navigate the figure by making selections in the drop-down menus. You may also toggle the sex select buttons, but one must be selected at all times. Click on the pre-pandemic or during pandemic buttons to select which bars are shown on the figure.

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Prevalence difference: A positive prevalence difference indicates that a risk factor worsened during the pandemic, whereas a negative prevalence difference indicates that a risk factor improved during the pandemic.

Download Current indicator data (.csv) Download Current data table (.csv)
Figure: Text description
Prevalence, Prevalence Difference, and Prevalence Ratio of Canadian adults aged 18+ years who report insufficient physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, by overall
Sex Breakdown Prevalence Prevalence ratio Prevalence difference
Sex Breakdown Pre-pandemic During pandemic Prevalence ratio (95% CI) Interpretation Prevalence difference (95% CI) Interpretation
Notes

Source: Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

Pre-pandemic: 2015 to 2018

During pandemic: 2021 to 2022

EDue to low sample size, estimates should be interpreted with caution.

No Data: Data for this indicator were not collected in this year, or are not reportable for the selected breakdown due to very low sample sizes.

General notes:

  • Estimates for this indicator exclude the territories
  • Prevalence ratios and prevalence differences are presented to assess the relative and absolute change in the prevalence of a specific risk factor during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic.
  • The prevalence ratio shows how many times higher or lower the prevalence of a risk factor was during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic.
  • The prevalence difference shows how many more cases of a risk factor, per 100 persons, were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic.
  • Significant changes are assessed by whether the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) exclude the null value of 1 (prevalence ratio) or 0 (prevalence difference):
    • Increased: prevalence was significantly higher during compared to pre-COVID-19 (CIs above the null value).
    • Decreased: prevalence was significantly lower during compared to pre-COVID-19 (CIs below the null value).
    • No significant change: no evidence of changes observed during compared to pre-COVID-19 (CIs includes the null value).

Indicator description:

How to cite: Canadian Risk Factor Atlas (CRFA), 2024 edition. Public Health Agency of Canada. Available at Health Infobase

Date modified: