M. Koehoorn, L. Tamburic, F. Xu and C.B. McLeod, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; H. Alamgir, Occupational Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas; and P.A. Demers, Ontario Cancer Research Centre, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto

Objectives: (1) To identify work-related fatal and non-fatal hospitalized injuries using multiple data sources, (2) to compare case-ascertainment from external data sources with accepted workers’ compensation claims, and (3) to investigate the characteristics of work-related fatal and hospitalized injuries not captured by workers’ compensation. Work-related fatal injuries were ascertained from vital statistics, coroners and hospital discharge databases using payment and diagnosis codes and injury and work descriptions; and work-related (non-fatal) injuries were ascertained from the hospital discharge database using admission, diagnosis and payment codes. Injuries for British Columbia residents aged 15-64 years from 1991 to 2009 ascertained from the above external data sources were compared to accepted workers’ compensation claims using per cent captured, validity analyses and logistic regression. The majority of work-related fatal injuries identified in the coroners data (83 per cent) and the majority of work-related hospitalized injuries (95 per cent) were captured as an accepted workers’ compensation claim. A work-related coroner report was a positive predictor (88 per cent), and the responsibility of payment field in the hospital discharge record a sensitive indicator (94 per cent) for a workers’ compensation claim. Injuries not captured by workers’ compensation were associated with female gender, type of work (natural resources and other unspecified work) and injury diagnosis (e.g., airway-related, dislocations and undetermined/unknown injury). Some work-related injuries captured by external data sources were not found in workers’ compensation data in British Columbia. This may be the result of capturing injuries or workers that are ineligible for workers’ compensation or the result of injuries that go unreported to the compensation system. Hospital discharge records and coroner reports may provide opportunities to identify workers (or family members) with an unreported work-related injury and to provide them with information for submitting a workers’ compensation claim.

Occ Environ Med, Volume 72, Issue 6, pages 413-420. Correspondence to: Professor M. Koehoorn, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3; email: mieke.koehoorn@ubc.ca.