Background: Over the past years, the rate of injuries sustained at the alpine ski hills in Québec significantly increased. This raises concern over a possible increase in risk of severe injuries associated with snow-park use. The main objective of this study was to examine the severity of injuries sustained by skiers and snowboarders in snow-parks compared with other slopes from 2001 to 2005. Methods: A case-control study design was used. Subjects were injured skiers and snowboarders who reported to the ski patrol with an injury. Two sets of severely injured cases were defined based on the type of injury and ambulance evacuation. Injured controls were those who did not sustain severe injuries. 50,593 injury report forms were analyzed. A logistic regression analysis was performed to relate the severity of injury to the type of slope used when the injury occurred. All analyses were controlling for age, sex, skill level, helmet use, season, and type of activity. Results: There was evidence to suggest that, for skiers (adjusted OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.21-1.53) and snowboarders (adjusted OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.23), participation in a snowpark increased the risk of being evacuated by ambulance. Severe injuries in skiers were also more likely to occur in snow-parks, but snowboarders had similar risk of severe injury in snow-parks and on other slopes. Conclusions: These results provide evidence that the type of activities performed in snowparks may increase the risk of sustaining a severe injury compared with participation on other slopes. MeSH terms: Athletic injuries; snow sports; skiing; case-control studies; risk factors La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

Based on the results of the Santé Québec survey, this article describes the normative values of the psychological distress indices developed as part of the Santé Québec survey (IDPESQ-29 and IDPESQ-14) for the reference population as a whole, women and men separately, and for certain age groups.

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OBJECTIVE:Suicide rates in Quebec over the second half of the 20 th century show a wide range of variation depending on age and time period. However, few studies have verified the presence of a cohort effect affecting trends in Quebec suicide rates. This study is designed to evaluate the potential effects of age, period and cohort (APC) on trends in suicide between 1950 and 2009 in Quebec. METHOD:For these APC analyses, we used a multiphase approach combining a graphical inspection followed by an analysis that isolates the cohort effect from age and period effects (linear regression of the residuals from a median polish of the rates). RESULTS:The graphical inspection of trends in rates points to combined effects of age, period and cohort among both men and women. However, the median polish analysis attributes primary importance to period effects, followed by age effects, but also shows weak cohort effects that are significant only among men born between 1950 and 1979. CONCLUSION:The variation in Quebec suicide rates appears to be primarily a reflection of period, age and, to a lesser degree, birth cohort. Thus, in addition to sex, selection of risk groups should be based more on age and time period than on birth cohort.

OTC drugs, in particular acetaminophen, are frequently used in suicide attempts. Accessibility to these drugs may be an important contributor.