Background: there are few studies in occupational health literature addressing the issue of work injuries among women.
Objectives: the purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in the occurrence and causes of one type of work injuries which is more frequent among women: the commuting accident while walking.
Design: this study is based on the data of recognized commuting while walking injuries in the industrial and service sectors recorded by the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work during the last five years (2014-2018).
Setting and participants: Italy; all compensated workers for commuting while walking injuries.
Main outcome measures: number of injuries, rate incidence, incidence rate ratio, odds ratio.
Results: commuting while walking injuries in the last five years were three times more frequent among women, with an increasing incidence over the years and by age (women: 1,31‰ vs men 0,40‰; IR 3,24; 95%CI 3,19-3,30). Women were more often injured going to work, in winter, on Mondays, in the North-Western areas of the country. Female mail-carriers, cleaners, care givers, public administrators were particularly vulnerable, especially the less young (>=50 years old). Females were at a higher risk for fractures particularly of wrist, elbow, and foot, while males had a higher risk for hand, knee, and chest injuries. Gender difference in incidence rate and type of commuting while walking injuries may be also due to a diverse work and home exposures together with fall dynamics.
Conclusions: commuting while walking work injuries show the higher incidence rate among women and the need to gender oriented prevention.
Keywords: Age; Commuting accident; Falls; Gender; Occupational sector.