OTTAWA — A new study says about 4.27 million Canadians aged 12 or older suffered an injury severe enough to limit their usual activities in 2009-10.

The Statistics Canada study found the overall injury rate in 2009-10 was 15 per cent, up from 13 per cent in 2001.

The agency says the most noticeable increase over this period was among 12- to 19-year-olds.

The proportion of injured girls in this age group increased to 23 per cent from 18, though at 30 per cent adolescent males remain the group most at risk.

Most adolescents' injuries were linked to sports (66 per cent).

Among working-age adults, sports and work were the main source of injuries (47 per cent), whereas more than half (55) of injuries among seniors occurred while they were walking or doing household chores.

Falls were the leading cause of injury -- about 63 per cent of seniors and half of adolescents were injured in falls, compared with 35 per cent of working-age adults.

And sprains and strains were, by far, the most common type of injury (51 per cent), followed by fractures and broken bones (17).