Table 1:

Characteristics of survey participants

CharacteristicUnweighted no. of participants
n = 634
Unadjusted estimate, %RDS-II adjusted estimate,* % (95% CI)
Racial and ethnic background
 Black42567.076.5 (68.2–84.9)
 East Asian325.03.7 (1.4–5.9)
 South Asian193.01.9 (0.1–3.0)
 Southeast Asian7011.010.5 (5.6–15.4)
 White162.53.7 (0.0–9.0)
 Mixed or other racial categories264.13.7 (0.0–9.3)
 Missing467.3
Gender identity
 Female52883.390.1 (85.1–95.1)
 Male579.09.6 (4.6–14.5)
 Other30.50.3 (0.0–0.8)
 Missing467.3
Born in Canada
 No57690.997.4 (94.9–99.9)
 Yes111.72.6 (0.1–5.1)
 Missing477.4
Age category, yr
 18–29528.210.4 (4.7–16.1)
 30–3917427.432.1 (23.8–40.3)
 40–4924739.038.3 (30.6–46.1)
 ≥ 5011518.119.2 (10.6–27.7)
 Missing467.3
Educational attainment
 Some grade school71.11.6 (0.0–7.2)
 Some high school60.91.0 (0.0–2.7)
 High school degree457.18.7 (4.4–13.1)
 Some college or university24138.041.2 (32.3–50.0)
 College degree, university degree or postgraduate degree28845.447.4 (39.0–55.9)
 Missing477.4
Current student status
 Not a student51280.878.9 (72.4–85.5)
 Student11317.821.1 (14.5–27.6)
 Missing91.4
Income level
 Income below LICO32851.755.1 (46.3–63.9)
 Income above LICO25940.944.9 (36.1–53.7)
 Missing477.4
Housing status
 Living in a temporary shelter run by an agency30.50.4 (0.0–1.3)
 Living in an institution (e.g., group home, long-term care, correctional facility)10.20.1 (0.0–0.2)
 Living in own home7011.010.7 (4.8–16.5)
 Renting a home48776.882.1 (73.8–90.4)
 Staying with friends or family274.36.7 (0.0–13.5)
 Missing467.3
Main setting worked as PSW in the previous year
 Home care in the community25840.743.9 (35.2–52.5)
 Long-term care21133.334.5 (27.0–42.0)
 Other (e.g., hospitals, shelters, group homes, rehabilitation centres)12619.921.6 (12.2–31.1)
 Missing396.2
Current employment status
 Employed56989.889.0 (82.7–95.3)
 Unemployed579.011.0 (4.7–17.3)
 Missing81.3
Currently working as PSW
 Not working as PSW253.95.3 (0.0–10.9)
 Working as PSW59994.594.7 (89.1–100.0)
 Missing101.6
  • Note: CI = confidence interval, LICO = low-income cut-off, PSW = personal support worker, RDS = respondent-driven sampling.

  • * Missing data were not included in the distribution of percent estimates.

  • Negative CI values were truncated at 0.