Ranking second only to car crashes as a cause of death for adolescents, gunshot injuries are a major cause of injury for kids in the US. And now, a new study reveals that gunshot wounds have a greater mortality rate and higher costs than any other reason for childhood injury.
Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) partnered with scientists from the University of California, Davis, to complete a population-based cohort study, which looked at data from 3 years, spanning January 2006 to December 2008.
The team reviewed information from 47 emergency medical services agencies linked to 93 hospitals in five regions of the western US. There were a total of 49,983 injured children who needed emergency help, including 505 children with gunshot injuries, the majority of whom were males aged 15 to 19 years old.
The results of the study were published online in the journal Pediatrics.
Dr. Craig Newgard, lead investigator from OHSU, says:
"There has been little science and lots of misinformation cited on the topic of gunshot injuries in children. This study was intended to add some objective data to the conversation."
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