Department of Surgery

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/1805/6763

Browse

Browsing Department of Surgery by Subject "2020"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The COVID-19 pandemic and associated rise in pediatric firearm injuries: A multi-institutional study
    (Elsevier, 2022) Collings, Amelia T.; Farazi, Manzur; Van Arendonk, Kyle J.; Fallat, Mary E.; Minneci, Peter C.; Sato, Thomas T.; Speck, K. Elizabeth; Deans, Katherine J.; Falcone, Richard A., Jr.; Foley, David S.; Fraser, Jason D.; Gadepalli, Samir K.; Keller, Martin S.; Kotagal, Meera; Landman, Matthew P.; Leys, Charles M.; Markel, Troy A.; Rubalcava, Nathan; St. Peter, Shawn D.; Flynn-O’Brien, Katherine T.; Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Background: Firearm sales in the United States (U.S.) markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective was to determine if firearm injuries in children were associated with stay-at-home orders (SHO) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized there would be an increase in pediatric firearm injuries during SHO. Methods: This was a multi institutional, retrospective study of institutional trauma registries. Patients <18 years with traumatic injuries meeting National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) criteria were included. A "COVID" cohort, defined as time from initiation of state SHO through September 30, 2020 was compared to "Historical" controls from an averaged period of corresponding dates in 2016-2019. An interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) was utilized to evaluate the association of the U.S. declaration of a national state of emergency with pediatric firearm injuries. Results: Nine Level I pediatric trauma centers were included, contributing 48,111 pediatric trauma patients, of which 1,090 patients (2.3%) suffered firearm injuries. There was a significant increase in the proportion of firearm injuries in the COVID cohort (COVID 3.04% vs. Historical 1.83%; p < 0.001). There was an increased cumulative burden of firearm injuries in 2020 compared to a historical average. ITSA showed an 87% increase in the observed rate of firearm injuries above expected after the declaration of a nationwide emergency (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The proportion of firearm injuries affecting children increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic was associated with an increase in pediatric firearm injuries above expected rates based on historical patterns.