Citation

Lyons VH, Rivara FP, Yan AN, Currier C, Ballsmith E, Haggerty KP, Whiteside L, Floyd AS, Hajat A, Rowhani-Rahbar A. J. Behav. Med. 2019; 42(4): 658-673.

Affiliation

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10865-019-00052-1

PMID

31367931

Abstract

Individuals who sustain nonfatal gunshot wound (GSW) injuries are at substantially increased risk of subsequent firearm injury. There is a dearth of literature examining what, if any, firearm-related behavior changes occur among adults as a result of GSW injuries. Using survey data on firearm-related behaviors from an ongoing randomized controlled trial, we sought to describe changes in reported firearm-related behaviors among GSW patients following their injury. Our results suggest that patients with a GSW, especially firearm owners, may change their firearm-related behaviors following injury, some by increasing firearm-related safety and others by increasing frequency of behaviors that may place them at increased risk of subsequent injury. This study highlights the need for further examination of firearm-related behavior change among GSW patients and development of interventions to promote firearm safety among this population.

Language: en

Keywords

Behavior change; Firearm carrying; Firearm ownership; Firearm storage; Gunshot wound