Injury among the immigrant population in Canada: exploring the research landscape through a systematic scoping review

Injuries are the leading cause of death among younger Canadians and represent a large economic burden on the Canadian population. Although immigrants comprise more than 20% of the Canadian population, the research landscape on injury in this group is unclear. We conducted a scoping review to summarize existing research regarding injuries among Canadian immigrants to identify research gaps and future research opportunities.

Relevant electronic databases of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature were systematically searched. Original articles were selected based on predefined criteria. Relevant information from the articles was extracted and reported in the review.

After a comprehensive search, screening and full-text evaluation, 28 articles were selected for the synthesis. Of the injuries that have been studied among Canadian immigrants, the majority focused on occupational injuries, followed by road traffic accidents. Of the 28 studies, 16 were quantitative and 12 were qualitative. The research themes among occupational injury papers centred on factors leading to injury, factors leading to delayed reporting and compensation of injury and post-occupational injury experiences. Language barriers, informal training and the mismatch between education and occupation among immigrants were found to be the most frequent determinants of injury risk.

The synthesized knowledge in this scoping review offers an understanding of the current research landscape on injury among immigrants that can be used to assist policymakers, service providers, employers and researchers regarding injuries in this population.