ICES Report: Injuries in Ontario

Unintentional injuries in children and youth from immigrant families in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cross-sectional study

“…The reduced risk was seen across all causes of injury. Income, which has traditionally had an inverse association with injuries, 3,8,10,14 had the opposite association in our immigrant population for visits to the emergency department -high neighbourhood income quintile was associated with a high risk of injury among immigrants. Adolescents had the highest risk of injury among nonimmigrants; among immigrants, risk was highest in infants and young children.…”

The shrinking health advantage: unintentional injuries among children and youth from immigrant families

“…Most injuries are preventable, and injury reduction strategies, when targeted and implemented appropriately, are successful [ 14 – 16 ]. Immigrants have a lower risk of unintentional injury than Canadian born children [ 17 – 19 ]. Though there is some cause-specific variability, this has been demonstrated across all causes of injury [ 19 ].…”

Capturing paediatric injury in Ontario: differences in injury incidence using self-reported survey and health service utilisation data

“…According to both the NACRS and the NLSCY, the RR of injury increased with a decline in population density such that injury risk was statistically higher for children living in mixed urban, mixed rural and rural counties compared with urban residents 15. While trend estimates from the NLSCY are similar to those reported in other studies,12 15 the magnitudes of risk appear overinflated relative to previously published estimates (RR ranging from 4.37 to 9.80)12 15 and are probably driven by the undercapture of true incidence among urban children. In contrast, although estimates of geographical risk appear consistent for children residing in mixed urban (RR 1.12; CI 1.19 to 1.22) and mixed rural counties (RR 1.47; CI 1.44 to 1.49) according to the NPHS, the estimates for rural children deviate from this rising pattern of risk, falling well below that expected among rural residents (RR 1.19; CI 1.17 to 1.22).…”

“…Two population health surveys capture data pertaining to paediatric injury occurrence in Canada: the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)13 and the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) 14. These databases fill a longstanding gap in Canadian injury epidemiology by capturing a broader spectrum of severity (ie, injuries in which medical attention was required, but did not necessarily result in death or hospital admission); however, several researchers have expressed concerns about the sensitivity and validity of self-reported injury data regarding their ability to capture paediatric injury incidence accurately6 10–12 15 16 and whether captured cases are representative of the actual experience of injury among young Canadians 11 12 15…”