Socio-demographic and substance use characteristics of unintentional injuries among Nunavik youth

Abstract

This study described the distribution of unintentional injuries among Inuit youth in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, and examined the relationship between socio-demographic factors, substance use and unintentional injuries. A cross-sectional study design was used on data collected for the Nunavik Child Development Study (2013–2015) among eligible youth aged 16 to 21 years old. Unintentional injury occurrence and causes (last 12 months) were assessed through individual interviews. A multivariate logistic regression model tested the relationship between socio-demographic, substance use variables and unintentional injury occurrence. Among the 199 youth who participated (94% response rate), thirty youth reported being unintentionally injured in the past 12 months , of which 50% were female. All-terrain vehicle collisions were the most frequent injuries reported (23%). The odds of being injured decreased by 62% for youth who were currently employed compared to those who were unemployed, adjusting for other socio-demographic variables (p-value = 0.04). Heavy alcohol drinking in the past 12 months was not significantly associated with unintentional injury. This study highlights the burden of unintentional injuries among Nunavik youth and the need for future work to explore additional and diverse variables that may prevent or contribute to injuries in order to inform culturally and developmentally-appropriate injury prevention strategies.

Keywords

• unintentional injury
• inuit
• adolescence
• youth