Epidemiology of Problem Gambling in a Canadian Community

Abstract

Pathological gambling became a public health concern in most countries in the 1990s, shortly after the liberalization of gambling policies and practices. Various communitywide surveys have examined population-level gambling behaviours, the prevalence of gambling problems, their antecedents, and their correlates. Early studies suggest that approximately 3–5 % of a given population have some level of gambling problems and that this prevalence is relatively stable across communities and among most countries (Doiron and Nicki 2001). However, there is evidence of changing patterns of gambling behaviour across communities and possibly a change in prevalence rates (Stucki and Rihs-Middel 2007). Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada with a population estimate of 1.04 million (Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics 2010). Gambling revenues suggest that gaming activities are popular in Saskatchewan, with residents having multiple gambling options available. The provincial gaming net revenues from wagers on government-controlled games have steadily increased from $62 million in 1992 to $641 million in 2008. Saskatchewan’s gambling revenue per capita was the second lowest in Canada after the northern territories in 1992 ($86), but increased to the highest per capita revenue in 2008 ($825); the national average was $528 (Statistics Canada 2006, 2007, 2009). These increases are likely due to increases in and better access to gambling venues and similar to gambling revenue increases in other parts of Canada. The government of Saskatchewan earmarked 0.5 % of gambling revenues for allocation to problem gambling initiatives in 2010. Problem gambling services include programs that promote responsible use of Video-LotteryTerminals, training to gambling industry employees, a problem gambling helpline, and funding of various organizations that work to raise awareness and offer support programs in prevention, treatment, public policy, and public resources (Problem Gambling.ca 2010). A limited number of empirical studies have reported the incidence of gambling in Saskatchewan. In 1994, a government sponsored study (N = 878), using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (Lesieur and Blume 1987), estimated an upper limit of 29,100 adults as problem or probable pathological gamblers, representing 2.9 % of the population (Volberg 1994). In 2002, 1,848 adults were administered the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) (Ferris et al. 1998) in a telephone survey. Reported prevalence of all levels of gambling problems was 15.15 % (Wynne 2002). The report estimated an upper limit of 135,400 adults at risk or already exhibiting serious gambling problems. Past year participation in gambling activities had risen from 53 % in 1994 (Volberg 1994) to 86 % in 2002 (Wynne 2002). Data from Statistics Canada’s CCHS cycle 1.2 (2001–2001) with 2,032 Saskatchewan residents in face-to-face interviews also using the CPGI, reported lower rates of past year gambling engagement at 75.4 %, with an estimated combined rate of 7.1 % of the population having gambling problems (Faregh 2009). Given the use of different instruments and methodologies, a direct comparison N. Faregh (&) McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada e-mail: nedafaregh@gmail.com