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Citation
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Tan H, Shipley J, Park FS, Donnelly MR, Kong AP, Barrios C, Grigorian A, Nahmias J. Am. Surg. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Rates of firearm violence (FV) surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a paucity of data regarding older adults (OAs) (≥65 years old). This study aimed to evaluate patterns of FV against OAs before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, hypothesizing decreased firearm incidents, injuries, and deaths for OAs due to restricted social movement.
METHODS: Retrospective (2016-2021) data for OAs were obtained from the Gun Violence Archive. The rate of FV was weighted per 10,000 OAs using annual population data from the United States Census Bureau. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to compare annual firearm incidence rates, number of OAs killed, and number of OAs injured from 2016-2020 to 2021.
RESULTS: From 944 OA-involved shootings, 842 died in 2021. The median total firearm incidents per month per 10,000 OAs decreased in 2021 vs 2016 (.65 vs.38, P <.001), 2017 (.63 vs.38, P <.001), 2018 (.61 vs.38, P <.001), 2019 (.39 vs.38, P =.003), and 2020 (.43 vs.38, P =.012). However, there was an increased median number of OAs killed in 2021 vs 2020 (.38 vs.38, P =.009), but no difference from 2016-2019 vs 2021 (all P >.05). The median number of firearm injuries decreased from 2017 to 2021 (.21 vs.19, P =.001) and 2020 to 2021 (.19 vs.19 P <.001).
DISCUSSION: Firearm incidents involving OAs decreased in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic years; however, there was a slight increase in deaths compared to 2020. This may reflect increased social isolation; however, future research is needed to understand why this occurred.
Language: en |