British Columbia (BC), Canada, experienced an unprecedented summer with record-breaking high temperatures in 2021. Yet the health impact has not been examined in occupational settings. This study ...aimed to characterize occupational heat-related illness (HRI) among BC workers estimated by incidence rates and associations between heatwaves and HRI, compare risks from 2021 and prior summers of 2001-2020, and assess differential impacts on worker groups by demographics and occupations.OBJECTIVESBritish Columbia (BC), Canada, experienced an unprecedented summer with record-breaking high temperatures in 2021. Yet the health impact has not been examined in occupational settings. This study aimed to characterize occupational heat-related illness (HRI) among BC workers estimated by incidence rates and associations between heatwaves and HRI, compare risks from 2021 and prior summers of 2001-2020, and assess differential impacts on worker groups by demographics and occupations.We identified HRI from workers' compensation claims that occurred between June and August from 2001-2021 in BC. Incidence rates were calculated using working population estimates from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional Poisson regression was used to examine the impact of heatwaves on occupational HRI. All analyses were stratified by year (2021 versus 2001-2020), age, sex, and occupation.METHODSWe identified HRI from workers' compensation claims that occurred between June and August from 2001-2021 in BC. Incidence rates were calculated using working population estimates from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional Poisson regression was used to examine the impact of heatwaves on occupational HRI. All analyses were stratified by year (2021 versus 2001-2020), age, sex, and occupation.Of the 521 claims identified, 107 (21%) occurred in 2021. Incidence rates for 2021 and prior summers were 3.97 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.26-4.80 and 0.93 (95% CI 0.85-1.03) claims per 100 000 workers, respectively. This difference represents a 327% increase. Rates were higher in health occupations in 2021 versus 2001-2020. During 2001-2021, the risk of HRI during heatwave days was 4.33 (95% CI 2.98-6.27) times that during non-heatwave days, and the risk was higher among middle-aged workers and workers in trades, transport, and equipment operations. The 2021 heatwaves had greater impact on younger and female workers than those from prior summers.RESULTSOf the 521 claims identified, 107 (21%) occurred in 2021. Incidence rates for 2021 and prior summers were 3.97 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.26-4.80 and 0.93 (95% CI 0.85-1.03) claims per 100 000 workers, respectively. This difference represents a 327% increase. Rates were higher in health occupations in 2021 versus 2001-2020. During 2001-2021, the risk of HRI during heatwave days was 4.33 (95% CI 2.98-6.27) times that during non-heatwave days, and the risk was higher among middle-aged workers and workers in trades, transport, and equipment operations. The 2021 heatwaves had greater impact on younger and female workers than those from prior summers.Heat is a crucial workplace hazard. Prevention strategies should prioritize at-risk workers and not be limited to heatwaves.CONCLUSIONSHeat is a crucial workplace hazard. Prevention strategies should prioritize at-risk workers and not be limited to heatwaves.
The risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with living near traffic; however, there is evidence suggesting that air pollution may not be responsible for this association. Noise, ...another traffic-generated exposure, has not been studied as a risk factor for RA.
We investigated proximity to traffic, ambient air pollution, and community noise in relation to RA in the Vancouver and Victoria regions of British Columbia, Canada.
Cases and controls were identified in a cohort of adults that was assembled using health insurance registration records. Incident RA cases from 1999 through 2002 were identified by diagnostic codes in combination with prescriptions and type of physician (e.g., rheumatologist). Controls were matched to RA cases by age and sex. Environmental exposures were assigned to each member of the study population by their residential postal code(s). We estimated relative risks using conditional logistic regression, with additional adjustment for median income at the postal code.
RA incidence was increased with proximity to traffic, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.37 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.68) for residence ≤ 50 m from a highway compared with residence > 150 m away. We found no association with traffic-related exposures such as PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, or noise. Ground-level ozone, which was highest in suburban areas, was associated with an increased risk of RA (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.36 per interquartile range increase).
Our study confirms a previously observed association of RA risk with proximity to traffic and suggests that neither noise levels nor traffic-related air pollutants are responsible for this relationship. Additional investigation of neighborhood and individual correlates of residence near roadways may provide new insight into risk factors for RA.
The aim of the study is to compare work disability duration of intraprovincially and interprovincially mobile workers with nonmobile workers in British Columbia, Canada.
Workers' compensation claims ...were extracted for workers injured between 2010 and 2019. Employer and residential postal codes were converted to economic regions to define nonmobile, intraprovincially, and interprovincially mobile workers. Quantile regression models using matched cohorts were used to estimate differences in work disability days at different percentiles of the distribution.
Compared with nonmobile workers, both mobile worker groups had longer work disability durations, particularly interprovincially mobile workers. Differences persisted in injury-stratified models and were partially or fully attenuated in some industry-stratified models.
Workers' compensation systems, employers, and healthcare providers may need to tailor specific interventions for mobile workers who are from out-of-province as well as traveling between regions in the province.
Minute virus of mice (MVM), an autonomous parvovirus, has served as a model for understanding parvovirus infection including host cell response to infection. In this paper, we report the effect of ...MVM infection on host cell gene expression in mouse fibroblast cells (LA9 cells), analyzed by differential display. Somewhat surprisingly, our data reveal that few cellular protein-coding genes appear to be up- or downregulated and identify the murine B1 and B2 short interspersed element (SINE) transcripts as being increased upon MVM infection. Primer extension assays confirm the effect of MVM infection on SINE expression and demonstrate that both SINEs are upregulated in a roughly linear fashion throughout MVM infection. They also demonstrate that the SINE response was due to RNA polymerase III transcription and not contaminating DNA or RNA polymerase II transcription. Furthermore, expression of MVM NS1, the major nonstructural protein, by transient transfection also leads to an increase in both murine SINEs. We believe this is the first time that the B1 and B2 SINEs have been shown to be altered by viral infection and the first time parvovirus infection has been shown to increase SINE expression. The increase in SINE transcripts caused by MVM infection does not appear to be due to an increase in either of the basal transcription factors TFIIIC110 or 220, in contrast to that which has been shown for other viruses.
Purpose
Canada was a major global asbestos producer and consumer. Geographic patterns of Canadian asbestos use and mesothelioma, a highly fatal cancer linked to asbestos exposure, have not been ...previously reported. This study summarized key trends in mesothelioma incidence by geography and time in two Canadian provinces, Ontario and British Columbia (BC), and explored how past workforce characteristics and geographic trends in asbestos production and use may shape variations in regional rates of mesothelioma.
Methods
We report trends in mesothelioma incidence (1993–2016) for Ontario and British Columbia using population-based incidence data that were age-standardized to the 2011 Canadian population. Historical records of asbestos production and use were analyzed to geo-locate industrial point sources of asbestos in Ontario and BC. The prevalence of occupations in regions with the highest and lowest rates of mesothelioma in Ontario and BC were calculated using labor force statistics from the 1981 Canadian Census.
Results
Regional mesothelioma rates varied in both provinces over time; more census divisions in both Ontario and BC registered mesothelioma rates in the highest quintile of incidences during the period 2009 to 2016 than in any prior period examined. Certain occupations such as construction trades workers were more likely to be overrepresented in regions with high mesothelioma rates.
Conclusion
This work explored how studying asbestos exposure and mesothelioma incidence at small-scale geographies could direct cancer surveillance and research to more targeted areas. Findings indicated that regional variations in mesothelioma could signal important differences in past occupational and potentially environmental exposures.
Introduction
To investigate differences in modified-return-to work (MRTW) within the first 30 days of a work-related, short-term disability injury by immigration characteristics. This question was ...part of a program of research investigating differences in work and health experiences among immigrant workers and explanations for longer work disability durations.
Methods
Workers’ compensation claims, immigration records and medical registry data were linked to identify a sample of workers in British Columbia, Canada with a short-term disability claim for a work-related back strain, concussion, limb fracture or connective tissue injury occurring between 2009 and 2015. Multivariable logistic regressions, stratified by injury type, investigated the odds of MRTW, defined as at least one day within the first 30 days on claim, associated with immigration characteristics, defined as a Canadian-born worker versus a worker who immigrated via the economic, family member or refugee/other humanitarian classification.
Results
Immigrant workers who arrived to Canada as a family member or as a refugee/other immigrant had a reduced odds of MRTW within the first 30 days of work disability for a back strain, concussion and limb fracture, compared to Canadian-born workers. Differences in MRTW were not observed for immigrant workers who arrived to Canada via the economic classification, or for connective tissue injuries.
Conclusion
The persistent and consistent finding of reduced MRTW for the same injury for different immigration classifications highlights contexts (work, health, social, language) that disadvantage some immigrants upon arrival to Canada and that persist over time even after entry into the workforce, including barriers to MRTW.
IntroductionThe longer an injured worker is off work the less likely they are to return to work and modified work is associated with shorter recovery durations. However, low rates of modified work ...have been found in Canadian compensation jurisdictions. This study investigated the determinants of modified work among workers with musculoskeletal injury compensation claims in British Columbia.MethodsThree cohorts of injured workers were identified from compensation claims for back strain, limb fractures and connective tissue injuries. The effect of age, sex, occupation, wage quintile and prior claim on at least one modified day (yes/no) within the first four weeks of claim was analysed using Poisson regression.ResultsIn multivariable models, female gender was associated with an increased likelihood of modified work (back strains: IRR 1.15 95%CI 1.06, 1.25; limb fractures: 1.22 0.91, 1.64; connective tissue injuries: 1.14 0.85, 1.52), while older age (e.g. 55 to 65 years) was associated with a decreased likelihood (back strains: IRR 0.69 95%CI 0.63, 0.76; limb fractures; connective tissue injuries: 0.59 0.43, 0.81). Higher income was associated with an increased likelihood of modified work for limb fractures (highest quintile: IRR 1.84 1.27, 2.67). The effect of occupation was variable on modified work by injury type.DiscussionUnmeasured injury severity may have resulted in residual confounding of disability duration by gender and age. The offer of modified work may be dependent on occupation and the flexibility of higher paying occupations. The overall low rate of modified work for musculoskeletal injuries (<30%) warrants further investigation.
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