Work Disability Duration Among Mobile Workers

Abstract

Objective To compare work disability duration of intra-provincially and inter-provincially mobile workers with non-mobile workers in British Columbia, Canada. Methods Workers’ compensation claims were extracted for workers injured between 2010 and 2019. Employer and residential postal codes were converted to economic regions to define non-mobile, intra-provincially and inter-provincially mobile workers. Quantile regression models using matched cohorts were used to estimate differences in work disability days at different percentiles of the distribution. Results Compared to non-mobile workers, both mobile worker groups had longer work disability durations, particularly inter-provincially mobile workers. Differences persisted in injury-stratified models and were partially or fully attenuated in some industry-stratified models. Conclusions Workers’ compensation systems, employers, and healthcare providers may need to tailor specific interventions for mobile workers who are from out-of-province as well as travelling between regions in the province.