Sex differences in work-related traumatic brain injury due to assault.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the etiology, prevalence and severity of assault-precipitated work-related traumatic brain injury (wrTBI) in Ontario, Canada through a sex lens.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study using data abstracted from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims files in 2004. Descriptive analyses were conducted to determine the distribution of worker/employment/incident characteristics.


RESULTS
Workplace physical violence that resulted in a TBI accounted for 6.6% percent of all TBI injury claims. Female workers, primarily in the health care/social services sector, accounted for over half of all TBIs. Most workers were assaulted by consumers/clients. Forty five percent of injuries occurred among workers with less than 3 years of employment.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper identifies profiles of workers and workplaces for targeted preventive efforts. Future studies are needed to further address risk factors by sex and outcomes, such as length of disability and health care cost.
Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada.|Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.|Toronto Rehab-University Health Network, ON, Canada.
Tatyana
T
Mollayeva
Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, ON, Canada.|Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Shirin
S
Mollayeva
Centre for Research in Human Development, Humanities and Social Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
John
J
Lewko
Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Angela
A
Colantonio
D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012947:Social Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064450:Workplace Violence; D055815:Young Adult
Traumatic brain injury; assault; epidemiology; occupation; workplace