Table 1.
Demographic and hospital characteristics of firearm injury hospitalizations, NIS 1993–2014
| n | Total | 1993–1996 | 1997–2002 | 2003–2007 | 2008–2014 | P |
| 648 662 | 152 442 | 167 900 | 144 942 | 183 378 | ||
| Demographic | ||||||
| Age | <0.0001 | |||||
| 0–15 | 36 032 (5.6) | 11 123 (7.3) | 10 188 (6.1) | 7432 (5.1) | 7289 (4.0) | |
| 16–45 | 534 140 (82.3) | 127 595 (83.7) | 139 609 (83.2) | 119 477 (82.4) | 147 458 (80.4) | |
| 46+ | 78 491 (12.1) | 13 724 (9.0) | 18 103 (10.8) | 18 033 (12.4) | 28 631 (15.6) | |
| Race | <0.0001 | |||||
| White | 146 805 (22.6) | 33 754 (22.1) | 35 163 (20.9) | 28 428 (19.6) | 49 461 (27.0) | |
| Black | 260 478 (40.2) | 67 292 (44.1) | 59 955 (35.7) | 51 193 (35.3) | 82 038 (44.7) | |
| Hispanic | 94 519 (14.6) | 23 800 (15.6) | 21 100 (12.6) | 22 625 (15.6) | 26 994 (14.7) | |
| Other | 26 379 (4.1) | 5434 (3.6) | 6406 (3.8) | 5827 (4.0) | 8712 (4.8) | |
| Unknown | 120 481 (18.6) | 22 162 (14.5) | 45 277 (27.0) | 36 869 (25.4) | 16 173 (8.8) | |
| Sex | 0.38 | |||||
| Male | 575 604 (89.0) | 134 820 (88.5) | 149 548 (89.1) | 128 306 (89.3) | 162 931 (89.1) | |
| Female | 71 161 (11.0) | 17 598 (11.6) | 18 310 (10.9) | 15 402 (10.7) | 19 851 (10.9) | |
| Insurance | 0.13 | |||||
| Private/Medicare | 178 774 (27.8) | 38 604 (25.5) | 51 107 (30.9) | 39 326 (27.6) | 49 737 (27.3) | |
| Self-pay | 202 409 (31.5) | 50 089 (33.0) | 54 395 (32.9) | 45 312 (31.8) | 52 614 (28.9) | |
| Medicaid/No charge/Other | 260 902 (40.6) | 62 969 (41.5) | 60 068 (36.3) | 57 945 (40.6) | 79 920 (43.9) | |
| Neighborhood income quartiles | <0.0001 | |||||
| ≤$24 999 | 275 761 (45.2) | 75 036 (55.9) | 41 096 (25.7) | 71 332 (51.2) | 88 297 (50.1) | |
| $25,000–$34 999 | 172 802 (28.3) | 39 604 (29.5) | 54 244 (34.0) | 34 727 (24.9) | 44 228 (25.1) | |
| $35,000–$44 999 | 104 320 (17.1) | 14 542 (10.8) | 38 080 (23.8) | 22 393 (16.1) | 29 305 (16.6) | |
| ≥$45 000 | 56 906 (9.3) | 5076 (3.8) | 26 332 (16.5) | 10 986 (7.9) | 14 512 (8.2) | |
| Hospital | ||||||
| Location | 0.015 | |||||
| Rural | 29 983 (4.8) | 9902 (6.5) | 9650 (5.8) | 5749 (4.0) | 4683 (3.0) | |
| Urban | 589 822 (95.2) | 142 021 (93.5) | 157 960 (94.2) | 139 180 (96.0) | 150 661 (97.0) | |
| Teaching hospital | 0.002 | |||||
| Non-teaching | 156 828 (25.4) | 56 146 (37.0) | 41 550 (24.8) | 32 467 (22.4) | 26 665 (17.3) | |
| Teaching | 461 547 (74.6) | 95 777 (63.0) | 126 060 (75.2) | 112 460 (77.6) | 127 249 (82.7) | |
| Size | 0.097 | |||||
| Small | 32 846 (5.1) | 11 604 (7.6) | 8399 (5.0) | 6150 (4.2) | 6693 (3.7) | |
| Medium | 157 507 (24.4) | 42 122 (27.7) | 48 080 (28.7) | 30 085 (20.8) | 37 220 (20.7) | |
| Large | 454 296 (70.5) | 98 197 (64.6) | 111 131 (66.3) | 108 693 (75.0) | 136 275 (75.6) | |
| Region | 0.31 | |||||
| Northeast | 111 872 (17.3) | 30 327 (19.9) | 25 994 (15.5) | 20 618 (14.2) | 34 933 (19.1) | |
| Midwest | 123 618 (19.1) | 21 243 (13.9) | 39 404 (38.6) | 29 449 (20.3) | 33 522 (18.3) | |
| South | 264 577 (40.8) | 56 585 (37.1) | 64 875 (38.6) | 64 210 (44.3) | 78 907 (43.0) | |
| West | 148 596 (22.9) | 44 287 (29.1) | 37 627 (22.4) | 30 666 (21.2) | 36 017 (19.6) | |
| Intent of injury | 0.025 | |||||
| Assault/Legal | 389 506 (60.1) | 89 183 (58.5) | 98 547 (58.7) | 89 545 (61.8) | 1 12 231 (61.2) | |
| Unintentional | 157 225 (24.2) | 38 738 (25.4) | 42 348 (25.2) | 32 733 (22.6) | 43 406 (23.7) | |
| Intentional self-harm | 55 601 (8.6) | 11 270 (7.4) | 13 628 (8.1) | 12 263 (8.5) | 18 440 (10.1) | |
| Undetermined | 46 330 (7.1) | 13 251 (8.7) | 13 378 (8.0) | 10 401 (7.2) | 9301 (5.1) | |
| Location of injury | <0.0001 | |||||
| Head or neck | 75 594 (11.9) | 15 403 (10.5) | 19 234 (11.9) | 17 086 (12.2) | 22 769 (13.0) | |
| Face | 24 626 (3.9) | 5090 (3.5) | 6099 (3.8) | 5402 (3.9) | 7455 (4.2) | |
| Chest | 81 039 (12.7) | 17 442 (11.9) | 20 635 (12.8) | 18 428 (13.2) | 23 092 (13.2) | |
| Abdominal/pelvic contents | 152 231 (23.9) | 33 981 (23.2) | 39 470 (24.4) | 34 841 (24.9) | 42 187 (24.0) | |
| Extremities/pelvic girdle | 195 070 (30.6) | 43 096 (29.5) | 46 912 (29.0) | 42 601 (30.5) | 58 583 (33.4) | |
| External | 109 298 (17.1) | 31 178 (21.3) | 29 540 (18.3) | 21 523 (15.4) | 21 532 (12.3) |
All values are weighted frequencies (n) and weighted percentages (%) using survey weighted analysis except Elixhauser comorbidity score presented as mean and SD. From 1993 to 1997, median household income fell into four categories: (1) $1–$25 000, (2) $25 001–$30 000, (3) $30 001–$35,000, (4) $35 001 and above. From 1998 to 2002, median household income fell into four categories: (1) $1– $24 999, (2) $25 000–$34 999, (3) $35 000– $44 999, (4) $45 000 and above. From 2003 onwards, median household income was present in the data as national quartiles for patient’s ZIP Code.