Do Differences in Work Disability Duration Between Men and Women Vary by Province in Canada?
Robert A Macpherson, Mieke Koehoorn, Jonathan Fan and 5 others
PMID 30506114WHAT IT FOUND
Women were less likely to transition off workers' compensation disability benefits than men in the first weeks and months, but around two to ten months the pattern often reversed.
Province and claim duration changed the difference.
Key findings
01Differences between men and women in transitioning off disability benefits remained after adjusting for age, injury type, injury year, and occupation, and they changed with disability duration.
02Overall, women had lower likelihoods of transitioning off disability benefits than men for durations up to approximately 2-to-4 months, then higher likelihoods until around 10 months.
03In British Columbia, women were less likely than men from about 7 days to 35 days, then more likely until about 210 days.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is an observational study of compensation claims, so it cannot show why men and women differ or that any treatment caused the difference. The outcome was cumulative paid disability days, not exact return-to-work dates, so it may include transitions to vocational rehabilitation, permanent disability, or other benefit changes. Claims were limited to short-term disability payments in the first year, so longer recovery paths and non-paid outcomes were not examined. Adjustment used broad occupation groups, not detailed job duties, industry, work demands, or gender segregation within the same job title. Coverage and workers' compensation systems differed across provinces, including average workforce coverage of 94% in British Columbia and 72% in Manitoba and Ontario, so the findings may not apply elsewhere. The study did not have a direct measure of gender, so sex-based and socially gendered factors were not fully separated.
Declared interests
The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba is named as a funder. No author conflict disclosures are included in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these results as evidence that women or men have a fixed return-to-work pattern. The study only described transitions off disability benefit payments, and the direction changed by claim duration and province.