Dr. Samuel Kwaku Essien PhD, MSc

Samuel Essien is an Assistant Professor at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) at the University of Regina campus.

Prior to joining JSGS, Samuel worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University. He also worked as a Senior Epidemiologist with Manitoba Health and as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan, where he leveraged administrative health databases to investigate the burden of limb loss and its associated comorbidities in Saskatchewan.

Dr. Essien’s research focuses on broad areas of limb loss, including upper- and lower-extremity limb loss; the use of administrative health databases and AI techniques to predict mortality risk following limb loss; disparities in prosthetic limb use; health service pathways for patients with diabetes and limb loss; and patient-centred digital health innovations for people living with limb loss. 

Designations

• PhD in Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan

• MSc, Community and Population Health Sciences, University of Saskatchewan

• MSc, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Windsor

• MSc, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Cape Coast (Ghana)

 

Download Sam Essien abridged CV

Samuel Essien is currently not accepting applications from new PhD and/or MPP students for September 2027.

• Insight Development Grant, SSHRC- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2024-2026. Role: Co-I
• SRC-CIHR Research Development Grant, 2023-2025. Role: PI
• University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Office of the Vice-Dean Research Publication Funding Award, 2021, 2022 & 2023.
• Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR) Knowledge Translation Award, 2020
• Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR) and University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, 2019-2021
  

• Chireh B, Essien SK, Afful A, D’Arcy C. Working Beyond 65: Factors Associated with Mental Health Among Older Canadians. Clinical Gerontologist. 2026 Feb 23:1-20.
• Chireh B, Essien SK, Swerhun K, D'Arcy C, Acharibasam JW. Workplace stressors and mental health outcomes among personal support workers: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2025 Aug 1; 168:105093.
• Essien SK, Chireh B, Steinberg C, Omondi P, Zucker-Levin A. Psychosocial and personal
  predisposing factors of frostbite injury and associated amputation: a systematic review.
  Injury Epidemiology. 2024 Nov 7;11(1):62.
• Essien SK, Feng C, Trask C. General unemployment and serious workplace injury rates:
  Workers compensation claims analysis from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan,
  2007–2018. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2024 Oct 15:1-1.
• Essien SK, Chireh B, Essien JK. Knowledge about unintended pregnancy shortly after
  childbirth: An issue of ineffective counseling or adherence?. Women's Health. 2024
  May;20:17455057241255655.
• Chireh B, Essien SK, D'Arcy C, Gyan C, Ankrah M. Severe disability and self-reported
  depression and anxiety among persons living with Type 2 diabetes in Canada. Journal of
  Affective Disorders Reports. 2024 Apr 1;16:100720.
• Essien SK, Zucker-Levin A. Comorbidity and risk factors of subsequent lower extremity
  amputation in patients diagnosed with diabetes in Saskatchewan, Canada. Chronic
  Illness.2023 Dec;19(4):779-90.
• Essien SK, Chireh B, Essien PK. Help-seeking behavior among miscarrying women with and without post-miscarriage health problems in Ghana. PLOS Global Public Health. 2023 Oct 9;3(10):e0002458.
• Essien SK, Zucker-Levin A. Discharge Disposition After Limb Amputation in a Publicly Funded Health Care System. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing. 2023 May;60:00469580231176354.
• Chireh B, Essien SK, Novik N, Ankrah M. Long working hours, perceived work stress, and common mental health conditions among the full-time Canadian working population: A national comparative study. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. 2023 Apr 1;12:100508.
• Essien SK, Zucker-Levin A. The impact of the demographic shift on limb amputation incidence in Saskatchewan, Canada, 2006–2019. PLos One. 2022 Sep 2;17(9):e0274037.
• Essien SK, Trask C, Feng C. Higher unemployment and higher work-related traumatic fatality: trends and associations from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, 2007–2018. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2022 May 5;48(4):273.
• Essien SK, Chireh B, Melese KG, Essien JK. Predictors of prolonged hospitalization after vaginal birth in Ghana: A comparative study. PLOS Global Public Health. 2022 Jan 5;2(1):e0000100.
• Essien SK, Kopriva D, Linassi AG, Zucker-Levin A. Trends of limb amputation considering type, level, sex and age in Saskatchewan, Canada 2006–2019: an in-depth assessment. Archives of Public Health. 2022 Jan 4;80(1):10.
• Chireh B, Essien SK, Novik N. Multimorbidity, disability, and mental health conditions in a nationally representative sample of middle-aged and older Canadians. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. 2021 Dec 1;6:100290.
• Essien SK, Linassi AG, Farnan C, Collins K, Zucker-Levin A. The influence of primary and subsequent limb amputation on the overall rate of limb amputation in Saskatchewan, Canada, 2006–2019: a population-based study. BMC Surgery. 2021 Oct 30;21(1):385.
• Essien SK, Zucker-Levin A. Factors associated with prolonged post-operative acute care length of stay in limb amputation patients in Saskatchewan, Canada. BMC Health Services Research. 2021 Oct 20;21(1):1128.
• Essien SK, Linassi G, Larocque M, Zucker-Levin A. Incidence and trends of limb amputation in First Nations and general population in Saskatchewan, 2006–2019. PLoS One. 2021 Jul 12;16(7):e0254543.
• Chireh B, Essien SK, D'Arcy C. First-trimester antenatal care visit reduces the risk of miscarriage among women of reproductive age in Ghana. African Journal of Reproductive Health. 2021 Apr 6;25(1):129-37.
• Kingston DC, Ferwerda S, Fontaine C, Keeping M, Stewart J, Ward R, Zapski J, Collins K, Essien SK, Zucker-Levin A. Implications of walking aid selection for Nonweightbearing ambulation on stance limb plantar force, walking speed, perceived exertion, and device preference in healthy adults 50 years of age and older. Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics. 2021 Mar19;6(1):2473011421998939.
• Essien PK, Essien JK, Essien SK. Patterns of birth and family planning acceptor rates in Ghana: An ecological study. African Journal of Reproductive Health. 2020 Jul 24;24(2):64-9.
• Chireh B, Essien SK. Leveraging best practices: protecting Sub-Saharan African prison detainees amid COVID-19. Pan African Medical Journal. 2020 Jun 24;36(1).
• Essien SK, Epp T, Waldner C, Wobeser W, Hoeppner V. Tuberculosis in Canada and the United States: a review of trends from 1953 to 2015. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2019 Dec;110(6):697-704.
• Essien SK, Feng CX, Sun W, Farag M, Li L, Gao Y. Sleep duration and sleep disturbances in association with falls among the middle-aged and older adults in China: a population-based nationwide study. BMC Geriatrics. 2018 Aug 28;18(1):196.
• Essien SK, Trask C, Khan M, Boden C, Bath B. Association between whole-body vibration and low-back disorders in farmers: A scoping review. Journal of Agromedicine. 2018 Jan 2;23(1):105-20.
• Essien SK, Trask C, Dosman J, Bath B. Investigating the association between lower extremity and low back symptoms among Saskatchewan farmers using the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire. Spine. 2017 Oct 1;42(19):E1147-54.
• Essien SK, Bath B, Koehncke N, Trask C, Saskatchewan Farm Injury Cohort Study Team. Association between farm machinery operation and low back disorder in farmers: a retrospective cohort study. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2016 Jun1;58(6):e212-7.