COVID-19 Healthcare Resource Use and Costs in Ontario, 2021-2023

A population-based retrospective cohort study of 1,321,174 COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada, from January 1, 2021, to May 31, 2023. The dataset, authored by Chloe McDonald and shared on figshare, analyzes all-cause healthcare resource utilization and direct healthcare costs before and after infection, with comparisons by vaccination status.

Use Cases

• Modeling the economic burden of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions based on per-person cost data.
• Comparing post-infection healthcare utilization trends between vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts.
• Assessing temporal changes in healthcare resource strain during the pandemic period described.
• Evaluating the impact of vaccination on reducing severe outcomes like mechanical ventilation.

Strengths

• Contains data on 1,321,174 individual COVID 19 cases.
• Provides specific cost figures, such as a CAD 24,597 increase in ICU costs for unvaccinated individuals.
• Covers a defined time range from January 2021 to May 2023 with up to 12 months of follow-up per case.
• Explicitly compares outcomes by vaccination status with quantified differences.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is limited to Ontario, Canada, which may not be generalizable to other regions.

Provenance

Source

Administrative health data from Ontario, Canada.

Collection Method

Population-based retrospective cohort study using generalized linear models.

Time Range

January 1, 2021, to May 31, 2023, with a 12-month follow-up period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-22 17:31:07; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Ontario, Canada.