Geospatial hotspots and neighbourhood deprivation associated with unintentional home injuries in British Columbia, Canada

Background Despite existing prevention initiatives, preventable unintentional home injuries remain a significant public health concern in Canada, and are often influenced by the social determinants of health. This study identified dissemination-area-level hotspots of unintentional home injuries resulting in hospitalizations across British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, from 2015 to 2019, and it’s examined their relationship with multiple deprivation indexes. Methods Unintentional home injury hospitalization data from B.C., Canada, (2015–2019) were obtained from the Discharged Abstract Database. These data were then linked with dissemination area (DA) level data and the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) for B.C. Spatial autocorrelation was assessed using Moran's I, and hotspot analysis was performed using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. Crude injury rates for each DA were calculated. Geospatial and bivariate analysis were examined using ArcGIS Pro. Results Between 2015 and 2019, the annual rate of unintentional home injuries leading to hospitalization in B.C. was 256.5 per 100,000 population. Unintentional home injuries leading to hospitalizations in B.C. were significantly clustered (Moran’s I = 0.05, z-score = 38.53, and p-value = 0.000). A total of 1,183 hotspots and 3,130 cold spots across DAs in B.C. were identified. Significant hotspots (99% CI, z-score > 2.58) were found in the southern B.C. region, especially across Thompson-Okanagan region and Vancouver Island, indicating that higher unintentional home injury rates were clustered in urban areas and larger population centres. In urban hotspots, bivariate analysis showed a positive relationship between unintentional home injury rates and economic dependency, residential instability, and situational vulnerability, and an inverse relationship with ethnocultural composition. Conclusion This geospatial analysis identified urban clusters in B.C. with higher unintentional home injury rates, particularly in areas of socioeconomic deprivation. These findings provide valuable insights into high-risk areas for implementing tailored injury prevention programs and policies.