Sex differences in work-related traumatic brain injury due to assault.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the etiology, prevalence and severity of assault-precipitated work-related traumatic brain injury (wrTBI) in Ontario, Canada through a sex lens.

METHODS: Cross-sectional study using data abstracted from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims files in 2004. Descriptive analyses were conducted to determine the distribution of worker/employment/incident characteristics.

RESULTS: Workplace physical violence that resulted in a TBI accounted for 6.6% percent of all TBI injury claims. Female workers, primarily in the health care/social services sector, accounted for over half of all TBIs. Most workers were assaulted by consumers/clients. Forty five percent of injuries occurred among workers with less than 3 years of employment.

CONCLUSIONS: This paper identifies profiles of workers and workplaces for targeted preventive efforts. Future studies are needed to further address risk factors by sex and outcomes, such as length of disability and health care cost.