Urban-Rural Differences in the Duration of Injury-Related Work Disability in Six Canadian Provinces.

Abstract

To examine associations between injury-related work disability duration and urban-rural place of residence and whether associations differed across the disability distribution and by industry sector. Workers' compensation claims from six Canadian provinces were extracted between 2011 and 2015. Multivariable quantile regression models tested the associations between urban-rural place of residence and disability days paid between the 50th and 95th percentiles of the distribution. Compared to workers residing in metropolitan areas, those in all other areas experienced more disability days paid. Urban-rural differences increased toward the upper end of disability distribution and were largest in the construction, and transportation and warehousing sectors. Tailored interventions for workers in rural areas, particularly those in sectors associated with mobile work environments, may be warranted to reduce inequities in injury-related work disability duration by place of residence.