Browsing by Subject "Firearm violence"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    A commentary on domestic firearm violence against women (2018–2021)
    (Elsevier, 2024-02-20) Schutzman, Linda M.; Jenkins, Peter C.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some of our best and worst qualities as a country. This commentary on “Domestic Firearm Violence Against Women (2018-2021)” discusses weaknesses in federal legislation and proposes ways for states to fill these gaps.
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    National evaluation of the association between stay-at-home orders on mechanism of injury and trauma admission volume
    (Elsevier, 2022) Thomas, Arielle C.; Campbell, Brendan T.; Subacius, Haris; Orlas, Claudia P.; Bulger, Eileen; Stewart, Ronald M.; Stey, Anne M.; Jang, Angie; Hamad, Doulia; Bilimoria, Karl Y.; Nathens, Avery B.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had numerous negative effects on the US healthcare system. Many states implemented stay-at-home (SAH) orders to slow COVID-19 virus transmission. We measured the association between SAH orders on the injury mechanism type and volume of trauma center admissions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: All trauma patients aged 16 years and older who were treated at the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program participating centers from January 2018-September 2020. Weekly trauma patient volume, patient demographics, and injury characteristics were compared across the corresponding SAH time periods from each year. Patient volume was modeled using harmonic regression with a random hospital effect. Results: There were 166,773 patients admitted in 2020 after a SAH order and an average of 160,962 patients were treated over the corresponding periods in 2018-2019 in 474 centers. Patients presenting with a pre-existing condition of alcohol misuse increased (13,611 (8.3%) vs. 10,440 (6.6%), p <0.001). Assault injuries increased (19,056 (11.4%) vs. 15,605 (9.8%)) and firearm-related injuries (14,246 (8.5%) vs. 10,316 (6.4%)), p<0.001. Firearm-specific assault injuries increased (10,748 (75.5%) vs. 7,600 (74.0%)) as did firearm-specific unintentional injuries (1,318 (9.3%) vs. 830 (8.1%), p<0.001. In the month preceding the SAH orders, trauma center admissions decreased. Within a week of SAH implementation, hospital admissions increased (p<0.001) until a plateau occurred 10 weeks later above predicted levels. On regional sub-analysis, admission volume remained significantly elevated for the Midwest during weeks 11-25 after SAH order implementation, (p<0.001).
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    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.