title: Hospitalizations for unintentional injuries among Canadian adults in areas with a high percentage of Aboriginal-identity residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Injuries are a leading cause of death and morbidity. While individual Aboriginal identifiers are not routinely available on national administrative databases, this study examines unintentional injury hospitalization, by cause, in areas with a high percentage of Aboriginal-identity residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Age-standardized hospitalization rates (ASHRs) and rate ratios were calculated based on 2004/2005-2009/2010 data from the Discharge Abstract Database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Falls were the most frequent cause of injury. For both sexes, ASHRs were highest in high-percentage First Nations-identity areas; high-percentage Métis-identity areas presented the highest overall ASHR among men aged 20-29 years, and high-percentage Inuit-identity areas presented the lowest ASHRs among men of all age groups. Some causes, such as falls, presented a high ASHR but a rate ratio similar to that for all causes combined; other causes, such as firearm injuries among men in high-percentage First Nations-identity areas, presented a relatively low ASHR but a high rate ratio. Residents of high-percentage Aboriginal-identity areas have a higher ASHR for hospitalization for injuries than residents of low-percentage Aboriginal-identity areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Residents of high-percentage Aboriginal-identity areas also live in areas of lower socio-economic conditions, suggesting that the causes for rate differences among areas require further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. philippe.fines@statcan.gc.ca
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Finès
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bougie
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kohen
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000208:ethnology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004332:Drowning / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005390:Fires / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011041:Poisoning / Q000208:ethnology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aboriginal people; Census; First Nations; Inuit; Métis; geographical methods; hospitalization; injuries