Adolescent injury, substance use, and mental health: An exploration of rates, determinants, and comorbidities in Canadian survey data

Injury is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in Canada. Recent estimates suggest the health and economic costs of injury in Canada is approaching $27 billion annually, with many thousand deaths and tens of thousands of hospitalizations. Adolescents are particularly at risk, with unintentional injury the leading cause of hospitalization among Canadians 10 to 19 years of age. Much of what we know about adolescent injury is taken from hospital and other administrative data, which provides excellent information about serious injuries requiring medical attention, as well as injury trends over time. Where hospital data are weak is in providing a broader picture of the substantial number of adolescent injuries that do not receive medical care, and in exploring the individual and social factors that lead to injury. A reliance on hospital data, alone, paints a limited picture of injury prevalence in Canada. These data tell us very little about what causes injury, and hinders the ability of those interested in injury prevention and control from making effective policy and program decisions. There is, however, a large body of survey data, collected provincially and nationally, that assesses adolescent injury and its key determinants. The primary objective of this project is to examine these survey data to understand adolescent injury rates, individual and social determinants of injury, and injury comorbidities, with particular attention to substance use and mental health. Our aim is to improve understanding of adolescent injury in Canada in ways that can inform the development of evidence-based policy and programs for injury prevention by our partners, provincial and federal government agencies, and other interested stakeholders.