The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric firearm injuries in Colorado

• Published in: Journal of pediatric surgery Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 344 - 349
• Main Authors: Stevens, Jenny, Pickett, Kaci, Kaar, Jill, Nolan, Margo M., Reppucci, Marina L., Corkum, Kristine, Hills-Dunlap, Jonathan, Haasz, Maya, Acker, Shannon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-02-2023
• Subjects: Accidental Injuries; Adolescent; Child; Colorado - epidemiology; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 pandemic; Firearms; Humans; Pandemics; Pediatric firearm injury; Pediatric trauma; Retrospective Studies; Wounds, Gunshot - epidemiology; Colorado; NTDB; UNESCO; DH; Pediatric firearm injury; ISS; COMIRB; EMR; IQR; CHCO; TC; COVID-19 pandemic; ACS; LOS; SD; CAP; GCS; Pediatric trauma; ICU; U.S; MH; PTC; WHO; ED
• ISSN: 0022-3468; 1531-5037
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2022.10.043

•What is currently known about this topic?○Firearm injuries are the leading cause of child and adolescent death in the United States.•What new information is contained in this article?○Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric firearm injuries, specifically unintentional injuries, increased significantly in Colorado.○Specific approaches including increased safe storage practices and limiting firearm access for teens are needed to curb the rise in unintentional firearm injuries among adolescents.
In 2019 firearm injuries surpassed automobile-related injuries as the leading cause of pediatric death in Colorado. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to community-level social, economic, and health impacts as well as changes to injury epidemiology. Thus, we sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric firearm injuries in Colorado.
We conducted a retrospective review of pediatric firearm injured patients (≤ 18-years-old) evaluated at three trauma centers in Colorado from 2018–2021. Patients were stratified into two groups based on the time of their firearm injury: pre- COVID injuries and post- COVID injuries. Group differences were examined using t-tests for continuous variables and Chi Squared or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables.
Overall, 343 firearm injuries occurred during the study period. There was a significant increase in firearm injuries as a proportion of overall pediatric ED trauma evaluations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (pre COVID: 5.18/100 trauma evaluations; post COVID: 8.61/100 trauma evaluations, p<0.0001). Assaults were the most common injury intent seen both pre and post COVID (70.3% vs. 56.7%, respectively); however, unintentional injuries increased significantly from 10.3% to 22.5% (p = 0.004) following the onset of the pandemic. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a 177% increase in unintentional injuries in adolescents.
Pediatric firearm injuries, particularly unintentional injuries, increased significantly in Colorado following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The substantial increase in unintentional injuries among adolescents highlights the necessity of multi-disciplinary approaches to limit or regulate their access to firearms.
Level III.
Retrospective.