Introduction Prior research has focused on individual or employer-level factors that influence work disability duration. A smaller number of studies identified differences in work disability duration by province or state and the urban-rural spectrum. Variations may also occur across smaller units of geography due to place-based factors, such as labour market characteristics and healthcare access, that play an important role in work disability duration.

Objectives The purpose of this study is to describe geographic variation in work disability duration within five work disability jurisdictions in Canada and examine if variation differs by injury type and jurisdiction.

Methods Using Canadian workers’ compensation data, we examined variability in disability days by calculating the coefficient of variations (CVs) across standardized units of geography in cohorts of workers with low back, shoulder and knee injuries.

Results Preliminary results suggest shoulder injuries had the longest disability duration with a mean of 50.10 days (SD 67.94), followed by knee injuries with a mean of 44.77 days (SD 62.03). Low back injuries had the shortest duration with a mean of 27.31 days (SD 45.49). There were different patterns of regional variation within jurisdictions. In three jurisdictions, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, higher CV values were observed for shoulder injuries (10.98, 12.03 and 15.65 respectively) and lower CVs observed for knee injuries (6.34, 9.77, 14.19 respectively). In contrast, in Alberta and Saskatchewan CVs were lower for shoulder injuries (4.47 and 4.92 respectively) and higher for low back injuries in Alberta (CV=8.27) and knee injuries in Saskatchewan (CV=13.49).

Conclusion Findings suggest that variation across regions differs by jurisdiction and injury cohorts. This variation may reflect differences in approaches to treatment for specific injuries across jurisdictions. Further analysis will examine the association between work disability duration and workers’ compensation healthcare utilization and spending in these cohorts.