Firearm injuries due to legal intervention in children and adolescents: a national analysis

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Firearm injuries due to legal intervention in children and adolescents: a national analysis

Category: Homicide, Injury, Youth|Journal: Journal of Surgical Research|Author: E Perez, J Sola, J Tashiro, N Joudi, S Eidelson, S Golpanian|Year: 2017

Overall, 275 cases were identified, with a 7.5% mortality rate. Incidence peaked at 1.0 per 100,000 admissions in 2006, significantly increased from a low 0.2 per 100,000 admissions in 1997, P < 0.001. Patients were predominantly male (97%). African Americans (44%) represented the largest racial group, followed by Hispanics (30%) and Caucasians (20%). Mean age was 17.5 ± 2.08 y. Patients were insured by Medicaid (33%) or a private payer (24%); the remainder (43%) was uninsured. Admissions most frequently occurred at urban teaching hospitals (81%). Cases occurred most frequently in the Southern United States (44%), followed by the Western United States (35%). Most patients presented to non–children’s hospitals (97%). Mean hospital admission cost was 27,507 ± 40,197 USD, whereas mean charges amounted to 75,905 ± 116,622 USD. Cases mostly occurred in lenient (56%) gun law states, whereas the remainder occurred in strict (41%) and neutral (3%) states. When analyzed by race, Caucasians (16%) had a significantly higher mortality rate when compared with African Americans (5%), P = 0.03.

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