Home injuries in British Columbia: patterns across the deprivation spectrum

Abstract

The significant burden of home injuries has become a growing concern that affect thousands of people every year across Canada. This study examined the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and unintentional injuries occurring at home leading to hospitalizations in British Columbia (BC) between 2015 and 2019. This study used de-identified hospitalization data on unintentional home-related injuries from the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and population data for each dissemination area from Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census Profiles. Hospitalization rates were computed for unintentional home-related injuries across four dimensions specified in the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) for BC. For three CIMD dimensions (situational vulnerability, economic dependency, and residential instability), unintentional home injury rates were higher in areas with higher deprivation, while the inverse was observed for ethno-cultural diversity. Understanding socio-economic disparities within neighbourhoods enables injury prevention partners to identify vulnerable populations and prioritize the development and implementation of evidence-based injury prevention interventions.

Keywords:

• Home
• household
• unintentional injuries
• neighbourhood deprivation
• socio-economic disparities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that supported the findings of this study are openly available through BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit at https://data.injuryresearch.bc.ca/DataTools/hospitalization.aspx.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.