Direction du Patrimoine de I'edition 395, rue W ellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare health service utilization rates between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations of the Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia. Further, this study also

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... explored the relationship between several demographic characteristics (age, gender and body mass index) and health service utilization between the two groups as well as to explore the differences in utilization between the two groups based on an identified chronic condition (depression, arthritis, asthma/COPD, cancer, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease). Health service was categorized into four different classifications: doctor visits, specialist visits, emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The results of this study indicate that health service utilization patterns differ between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals based on the identified demographic variables as well as on chronic conditions. Further, this study also identified differences in the types of health services each group accesses more frequently.