Information on participants of the 1990 Nova ScotiaNutrition Survey was linked with eight years of administrativehealth services data and mortality. The authors first examinedwhether lower socioeconomic groups use more health services,as would be expected given their poorer health status. Theythen investigated to what extent differential use of healthservices modifies socioeconomic disparities in mortality. Finally,the authors evaluated health services use in the last yearsof life when health is poor regardless of a person’s socioeconomicbackground.