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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: Firearm injuries among children are a major clinical and public health concern and one of the leading causes of pediatric fatalities. Our objective was to investigate differences in predictors and clinical outcomes between self-inflicted, violent, and unintentional pediatric firearm injuries for patients who present to pediatric emergency departments.
METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients 0 to 21 years old treated in 37 pediatric academic emergency departments from 2004 to 2014. Patients were classified into the injury intent categories of self-inflicted, violent, and unintentional firearm injury using the International Classification of Diseases, 9(th) edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnoses and external causes of injury codes. Multivariable multinomial regression models compared groups.
RESULTS: We identified 9,628 firearm injuries from 2004-2014: 109 (1%) self-inflicted, 2,394(25%) violent, and 7,125(74%) unintentional. Male sex, increasing age, non-white race, public insurance, residing in an urban zip code and lower zip code-level median household income were all independently associated with violent firearm injuries, relative to self-inflicted and unintentional injuries. Self-inflicted injuries were at the highest risk for hospital admission, death, ICU services, surgical services, and increased length of stay, followed by violent injuries with intermediate risk and unintentional injuries at the lowest risk CONCLUSIONS: Self-inflicted, violent, and unintentional firearm injuries in children had distinct demographic risk factors and clinical and utilization outcomes. Targeted prevention and intervention efforts should be developed to reduce the incidence and severity of these injuries. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Language: en |