Working and Living in Northern vs Southern Ontario Is Associated with the Duration of Compensated Time off Work: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

The disability duration in northern Ontario is longer than that in southern Ontario. Future research should focus on assessing the relevant factors associated with this observation to identify opportunities for intervention.

Work Disability Duration Among Mobile Workers

“…22 Although cohort restrictions resulted in the exclusion of many claims, this study was able to retain more claims than were retained in previous research using both residential and employer location data. 19 This study was able to apply a matching algorithm to reduce the bias of estimated differences in RTW of mobile workers similar to that in existing studies. 11,13 What also separates this study from the aforementioned studies is the ability to analyze an outcome based on calendar RTW data as opposed to simply compensated temporary total or partial days paid.…”

“…The only other study that uses both residential and employer location data found that workers who worked in a different region of the province of Ontario than their region of residence had a lower likelihood of transitioning off disability benefits than those working and residing in the same region of Ontario. 19 In the present study, contrasts are drawn between the work disability duration of nonmobile and intraprovincially and interprovincially mobile workers. Similar to the findings from research on interjurisdictionally mobile workers, 12,13 interprovincially mobile workers had the longest work disability duration.…”

“…First, they rely on measures of the number of cumulative work disability days paid [13][14][15] or calendar days between injury and final wage-replacement payment. 11,12,19 Such measures represent proxies for RTW as opposed to those based on RTW calendar data that include detailed RTW statuses at a daily level that can also differentiate between different forms of RTW (eg, gradual…”

“…Third, aside from two studies on out-of-province workers, 11,13 studies on differences in RTW and work disability among intraregionally mobile workers are susceptible to biased estimates as they do not account for the selectivity of workers being mobile and how their characteristics may differ from those who are less or nonmobile. Lastly, with the exception of one study, 19 they rely only on residential location information as opposed to both residential and employer location information. In light of this, the objective of this study was to use workers' compensation data from the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) to examine differences in work disability duration of intraprovincially and interprovincially mobile workers compared with nonmobile workers.…”

“…While existing studies offer insight into differences in RTW and work disability outcomes across varying forms of mobile work, they are limited in the following ways. First, they rely on measures of the number of cumulative work disability days paid 13–15 or calendar days between injury and final wage-replacement payment 11,12,19 . Such measures represent proxies for RTW as opposed to those based on RTW calendar data that include detailed RTW statuses at a daily level that can also differentiate between different forms of RTW (eg, gradual RTW vs full RTW) and deemed ability to RTW (with cessation of wage-loss benefits) 20 .…”