Quebec Children's Study : A study to better understand service use trajectories in health and education
Why was this project created ?
Experimental studies have shown that preventive interventions for vulnerable families reduce the prevalence and severity of psychosocial and health problems.
These findings have led to the development of public services such as perinatal and childcare programs. However, these programs are not always implemented with the same rigor as scientifically validated interventions.
Evaluating their real-world effectiveness is essential to ensure program success and to optimize the use of public resources.
With this in mind, we created Quebec Children’s Study, a project that links administrative health and education data with survey and research data. The project will cover data on approximately 1.5 to 1.7 million children born between 2006 and 2023.
Study objectives
To model the service use trajectories in health care, social services, and education, and to assess how these are associated with health and education issues for Quebec Children’s Study, using a longitudinal and population-based approach.
01
Cohort child profiles
Describe the children’s profiles based on socioeconomic, geographic, migratory, and citizenship criteria.
02
Services and development
Analyze the relationships between the use of health, social, and educational services and health and education outcomes across four key developmental stages: 0–5 years, 6–10 years, 11–15 years, and 16–18 years.
03
Impact of interventions
Test hypotheses related to timing (e.g., age at intervention), dosage (e.g., number of sessions offered), and service consistency (e.g., diversity of services) in relation to health outcomes.
04
Sex-based analysis
Include the child’s sex in all analyses, either by testing interactions between sex and services or conducting stratified analyses by sex.
Study population
The database will compile administrative data on approximately 1.5 million children born between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2023, who are registered with the RAMQ. It will cover all 18 regions of Québec and include both the 88,000–90,000 annual births and children who arrived during childhood (immigrants, refugees, etc.).
Research team
Sylvana M. Côté
Université de Montréal
Nadia Roumeliotis
Université de Montréal
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