An ecological study of regional variation in work injuries among young workers

Using workers compensation claims and census data, we estimated claim rates per 100 full-time equivalents for 15 to 24 year olds in 46 regions in Ontario. A total of 21 region-level indicators were derived primarily from Census and Labour Force Survey data to reflect social and material deprivation of the region as well as demographic and employment characteristics of youth living in those areas.Descriptive findings showed substantial geographic variation in young worker injury rates, even after controlling for several job and demographic variables. Region-level characteristics such as greater residential stability were associated with low work injury rates. Also, regions with the lowest claim rates tended to have proportionally fewer cuts and burns than high-claim-rate regions.The finding of substantial geographic variation in youth claim rates even after controlling for demographic and job factors can aid in targeting prevention resource. The association between region-level indicators such as residential stability and youth work injury suggests that work injury prevention strategies can be integrated with other local economic development measures. The findings partially support the notion that work safety measures may be unevenly distributed with respect to regional socio-economic factors.There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that many youth and adult health outcomes are not merely the result of the differential distribution of individual-level risk factors, but are also attributable to aspects of the social and economic environment (i.e., context) [1-7]. Some studies have shown modest associations (beyond the influence of individual-level factors) between area-level socioeconomic factors and health outcomes such as general health and hypertension (for a review see [8]). Other health outcomes such as coronary heart disease have shown marked variation due to area-level socioeconomic characteristics [1,9].Despite this proliferation of interest in contextua