Unintentional injury hospitalizations and socio-economic status in areas with a high percentage of First Nations identity residents.

BACKGROUND Few national studies of hospitalizations due to injuries among the First Nations population have been conducted. DATA AND METHODS Based on 2004/2005 to 2009/2010 data from the Discharge Abstract Database, this study examines associations between unintentional injury hospitalizations, socio-economic status and location relative to an urban core in Dissemination Areas (DAs) with a high percentage of First Nations identity residents versus a low percentage of Aboriginal identity residents. RESULTS Unintentional injury hospitalization rates were higher in the less affluent and the most remote DAs. When DAs with the same socio-economic status and location were compared, the risk of hospitalizations was greater in high-percentage First Nations identity DAs relative to low-percentage Aboriginal identity DAs. INTERPRETATION Socio-economic conditions and remote location accounted for some, but not all, of the differences in unintentional injury hospitalizations between high-percentage First Nations identity and low-percentage Aboriginal identity DAs. This suggests that characteristics not measured in this analysis--such as environmental, behavioural or other factors--play an additional role in DA-level unintentional injury hospitalization risk.