Browsing by Author "Ranney, Megan L."
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Item Dual public health crises: The overlap of drug overdose and firearm injury in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2018–2020(BMC, 2022-07) Magee, Lauren A.; Ray, Bradley; Huynh, Philip; O'Donnell, Daniel; Ranney, Megan L.; School of Public and Environmental AffairsBackground Drug overdose and firearm injury are two of the United States (US) most unrelenting public health crises, both of which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Programs and policies typically focus on each epidemic, alone, which may produce less efficient interventions if overlap does exist. The objective is to examine whether drug overdose correlates with and is associated with firearm injury at the census tract level while controlling for neighborhood characteristics. Methods An ecological study of census tracts in Indianapolis, Indiana from 2018 to 2020. Population rates per 100,000 and census tracts with the highest overlap of overdose and firearm injury were identified based on spatial clusters. Bivariate association between census tract characteristic and drug overdose and firearm violence rate within spatial clusters. Zero-inflated negative binominal regression was used to estimate if the drug overdose activity is associated with higher future firearm injury. Results In high overdose—high firearm injury census tracts, rates of firearm injury and drug overdose are two times higher compared to city wide rates. Indicators of structural disadvantage and structural racism are higher in high overdose—high firearm injury census tracts compared to city-wide averages. Drug overdoses are associated with higher rates of firearm injury in the following year (IRR: 1.004, 95% CI 1.001, 1.007, p < 0.05), adjusting for census tract characteristics and spatial dependence. Conclusions Drug overdose and firearm injury co-spatially concentrate within census tracts. Moreover, drug overdoses are associated with future firearm injury. Interventions to reduce firearm injuries and drug overdoses should be a co-response in high drug overdose—high firearm injury communities.Item Engagement With Mental Health Services Among Survivors of Firearm Injury(American Medical Association, 2023-10-02) Magee, Lauren A.; Ortiz, Damaris; Adams, Zachary W.; Marriott, Brigid R.; Beverly, Anthony W.; Beverly, Beatrice; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Ranney, Megan L.; School of Public and Environmental AffairsImportance: Despite the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms after firearm injury, little is known about how firearm injury survivors connect with mental health services. Objective: To determine facilitators and barriers to mental health care engagement among firearm injury survivors. Design, setting, and participants: A qualitative study of 1-on-1, semistructured interviews conducted within a community setting in Indianapolis, Indiana, between June 2021 and January 2022. Participants were recruited via community partners and snowball sampling. Participants who survived an intentional firearm injury, were shot within Indianapolis, were aged 13 years or older, and were English speaking were eligible. Participants were asked to discuss their lives after firearm injury, the emotional consequences of their injury, and their utilization patterns of mental health services. Data were analyzed from August 2022 to June 2023. Main outcomes and measures: Survivors' lived experience after firearm injury, sources of emotional support, mental health utilization, and their desired engagement with mental health care after firearm injury. Results: A total of 18 participants (17 were Black [94%], 16 were male [89%], and 14 were aged between 13 and 24 years [77%]) who survived a firearm injury were interviewed. Survivors described family members, friends, and informal networks as their main source of emotional support. Barriers to mental health care utilization were perceived as a lack of benefit to services, distrust in practitioners, and fear of stigma. Credible messengers served as facilitators to mental health care. Survivors also described the emotional impact their shooting had on their families, particularly mothers, partners, and children. Conclusions and relevance: In this study of survivors of firearm injury, findings illustrated the consequences of stigma and fear when seeking mental health care, inadequate trusted resources, and the need for awareness of and access to mental health resources for family members and communities most impacted by firearm injury. Future studies should evaluate whether community capacity building, digital health delivery, and trauma-informed public health campaigns could overcome these barriers to mitigate the emotional trauma of firearm injuries to reduce health disparities and prevent future firearm violence.Item Identifying Nonfatal Firearm Assault Incidents through Linking Police Data and Clinical Records: Cohort Study in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2007 – 2016(Elsevier, 2021) Magee, Lauren A.; Ranney, Megan L.; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Rosenman, Marc; Gharbi, Sami; Wiehe, Sarah E.; School of Public and Environmental AffairsNonfatal firearm assault incidents are more prevalent than gun homicides, however, little is understood about nonfatal firearm assault incidents due to a lack of accurate data in the United States. This is a descriptive study of all nonfatal firearm assault incidents identified through police and clinical records from 2007 to 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Records were linked at the incident level to demonstrate the overlap and non-overlap of nonfatal firearm assault incidents in police and clinical records and describe differences in demographic characteristics of the victims. Incidents were matched within a 24-h time window of the recorded date of the police incident. Data were analyzed in fall 2020. There were 3797 nonfatal firearm assault incidents identified in police reports and 3131 clinical encounters with an ICD 9/10 diagnosis-based nonfatal firearm-related injury. 62% (n = 2366) of nonfatal firearm assault incidents matched within 24 h to a clinical encounter, 81% (n = 1905) had a firearm related ICD code: 40% (n = 947) were coded as a firearm-related assault, 32% (n = 754) were coded as a firearm-related accident; and 8.6% (n = 198) were coded as undetermined, self-inflicted or law enforcement firearm-related. The other 20% (n = 461) did not have an ICD firearm related diagnosis code. Results indicate most nonfatal firearm assault incidents overlap between police and clinical records systems, however, discrepancies between the systems exist. These findings also demonstrate an undercounting of nonfatal firearm assault incidents when relying on clinical data systems alone and more efforts are needed to link administrative police and clinical data in the study of nonfatal firearm assaults.Item Linking Data on Nonfatal Firearm Injuries in Youths to Assess Disease Burden(American Medical Association, 2024-09-03) Magee, Lauren A.; Ortiz, Damaris; Adams, Zachary W.; Raymond, Jodi L.; Marriott, Brigid R.; Landman, Matthew P.; O’Neill, Joseph; Davis, Tiffany L.; Williams, Jamie; Adams, Kendale; Belchos, Jessica; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Jenkins, Peter C.; Ranney, Megan L.; School of Public and Environmental AffairsThis cross-sectional study estimates the incidence of nonfatal firearm injuries among children and young adults after linking patient-level police and trauma registry data.Item Unconditional care in academic emergency departments(Wiley, 2020-05-14) Kline, Jeffrey A.; Burton, John H.; Carpenter, Christopher R.; Meisel, Zachary F.; Miner, James R.; Newgard, Craig D.; Quest, Tammie; Martin, Ian B. K.; Holmes, James F.; Kaji, Amy H.; Bird, Steven B.; Coates, Wendy C.; Lall, Michelle D.; Mills, Angela M.; Ranney, Megan L.; Wolfe, Richard E.; Dorner, Stephen C.; Emergency Medicine, School of MedicineRecent news stories have explicitly stated that patients with symptoms of COVID-19 were "turned away" from emergency departments. This commentary addresses these serious allegations, with an attempt to provide the perspective of academic emergency departments (EDs) around the Nation. The overarching point we wish to make is that academic EDs never deny emergency care to any person.