Table 2.
Firearm injury patterns and severity
| Total N = 271 | 2019 N = 78 | 2020 N = 104 | 2021 N = 89 | Percentage change from 2019 to 2020 a (95% confidence interval) |
Percentage change from 2019 to 2021 a (95% confidence interval) |
Estimated annual percentage change a (95% confidence interval) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injury location, n (%) | |||||||
| Head/Neck | 72 (26.6) | 22 (28.2) | 30 (28.8) | 20 (22.5) | 25.9% (− 22.5–104.4%) | − 12.7% (− 48.7–48.5%) | − 6.1% (− 25.9–19.1%) |
| Chest | 36 (13.3) | 15 (19.2) | 11 (10.6) | 10 (11.2) | − 32.3% (− 67.5–41.1%) | − 36.0% (− 70.0–36.4%) | − 20.9% (− 46.9–17.7%) |
| Back/Flank | 38 (14.0) | 7 (9.0) | 22 (21.2) | 9 (10.1) | 190.1% (30.4–545.5%) | 23.4% (− 51.6–214.5%) | 6.2% (− 21.7–44.0%) |
| Abdomen | 40 (14.8) | 11 (14.1) | 13 (12.5) | 16 (18.0) | 9.1% (− 49.4–135.2%) | 39.6% (− 32.0–186.6%) | 18.8% (− 17.8–71.7%) |
| Pelvis/Groin | 24 (8.9) | 7 (9.0) | 7 (6.7) | 10 (11.2) | − 7.7% (− 66.0–150.8%) | 37.1% (− 47.1–255.9%) | 18.8% (− 29.0–98.7%) |
| Spine | 15 (5.5) | 5 (6.4) | 8 (7.7) | 2 (2.2) | 47.7% (− 49.5–331.8%) | − 61.6% (− 92.3–92.3%) | − 28.2% (− 57.3–20.7%) |
| Extremity | 147 (54.2) | 44 (56.4) | 59 (56.7) | 44 (49.4) | 23.8% (− 6.5–63.8%) | − 4.0% (− 27.9–27.9%) | − 2.0% (− 14.1–11.8%) |
| Injury type, n (%) | |||||||
| Superficial Injury | 2 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (2.2) | – | – | – |
| Open Wounds | 58 (21.4) | 14 (17.9) | 21 (20.2) | 23 (25.8) | 38.5% (− 27.2–163.3%) | 57.7% (− 16.7–198.5%) | 24.5% (− 8.0–68.6%) |
| Unspecified | 4 (1.5) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (2.9) | 1 (1.1) | – | – | 45.0% (− 28.3–193.1%) |
| Fractures | 104 (38.4) | 32 (41.0) | 36 (34.6) | 36 (40.4) | 3.8% (− 30.7–55.6%) | 8.0% (− 27.2–60.2%) | 3.9% (− 14.7–26.6%) |
| Amputations | 1 (0.4) | 1 (1.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – | – | – |
| Internal Organs | 64 (23.6) | 24 (30.8) | 20 (19.2) | 20 (22.5) | − 23.1% (− 55.6–33.3%) | − 20.0% (− 52.9–36.0%) | − 11.0% (− 32.6–17.6%) |
| Blood Vessels | 8 (3.0) | 2 (2.6) | 5 (4.8) | 1 (1.1) | 130.8% (− 54.0–1056.6%) | − 52.0% (− 95.6–420.7%) | − 19.2% (− 57.6–54.1%) |
| Nerves | 4 (1.5) | 1 (1.3) | 3 (2.9) | 0 (0.0) | 177.0% (− 70.7%–2517.4%) | – | − 33.8% (− 67.2–33.8%) |
| Head Injury | 26 (9.6) | 4 (5.1) | 16 (15.4) | 6 (6.7) | 269.2% (27.4–970.4%) | 44.0% (− 57.7–390.6%) | 10.3% (− 23.0–57.9%) |
| Disability, n (%) | |||||||
| Yes | 48 (17.7) | 13 (16.7) | 19 (18.3) | 16 (18.0) | 34.9% (− 28.1–153.3%) | 18.2% (− 38.8–128.1%) | 7.8% (− 20.4–46.0%) |
| No | 222 (81.9) | 65 (83.3) | 85 (81.7) | 72 (80.9) | 20.7% (1.1–44.1%) | 6.3% (− 10.2–25.9%) | 2.8% (− 5.1–11.5%) |
| Death, n (%) | |||||||
| Yes | 28 (10.3) | 10 (12.8) | 12 (11.5) | 6 (6.7) | 10.8% (− 50.8–149.3%) | − 42.4% (− 78.0–50.6%) | − 21.4% (− 47.8–18.3%) |
| No | 243 (89.7) | 68 (87.2) | 92 (88.5) | 83 (93.3) | 24.9% (5.2–48.3%) | 17.2% (0.9–36.0%) | 7.7% (0.3–15.7%) |
aPercentage changes were estimated with Poisson regression model with year as the main predictor
CI stands for confidence interval
Bold values indicate a percentage change with a 95% confidence interval that does not cross 0