TOPLINE:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric emergency department (ED) visits for firearm injuries more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic trends, along with an increase in mortality rates.
METHODOLOGY:
Pediatric firearm injuries significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but recent trends in ED visits for firearm injuries are not well-documented.
This retrospective study evaluated 1904 pediatric firearm injury ED visits across nine children’s hospitals before (January 2017 to February 2020) and during (March 2020 to November 2022) the pandemic.
Of 1904 visits, 694 were reported before the pandemic and 1210 during the pandemic.
TAKEAWAY:
During the pandemic, pediatric firearm injury ED visit rates surged from 18.0 to 36.1 per 30 days, more than twice the predicted rate based on prepandemic trends (rate ratio [RR], 2.09; 95% CI, 1.63-2.91).
This increase beyond expected rates was primarily driven by children aged 10-14 years (RR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.69-5.71) and 15-17 years (RR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.51-3.38).
Death in the ED or hospital rose from 3.1% of visits before the pandemic to 6.1% of visits during the pandemic (P = .007).
Emergency severity index level 1 visits increased from 38.5% before the pandemic to 46.4% during the pandemic (P = .027).
IN PRACTICE:
The authors wrote, "Access to guns stored unsafely in the home may have contributed to increases in self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries. Simultaneously, psychosocial stressors and financial strains related to the pandemic may have led to increases in assault and self-inflicted firearm injuries."
They further added, "A comprehensive public health approach is required to reduce the rising tide of firearm injuries in children."
SOURCE:
The lead author of the study was Jennifer A Hoffmann, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. The study was published online in the Pediatrics on November 6, 2023.
LIMITATIONS:
There may be a possibility of miscoding of the intent of firearm injuries and misclassification of race and ethnicity in electronic health record data.
The study did not include children who died at the scene and were not transferred to the ED.
The findings cannot be generalized to nonpediatric trauma centers, where most firearm-injured children in the United States receive emergency care.
DISCLOSURES:
This study was supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. No conflicts of interest were reported.
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Cite this: Pediatric Firearm Injuries See a Significant Surge in Pandemic - Medscape - Dec 04, 2023.
