Trends in Gun Shot Wound Related Emergency Department Visit in Illinois

Abstract

Introduction: Gun violence is the lowest its been in the past 50 years across the US. However, the number of circulating guns is the highest its been, and gun violence endemics continue to exist in high crime cities like Chicago, with 2016 having one of the highest homicide rates in the citys history. Historically, gun crime was attributed to demographic risk factors, but recent research has suggested that social networks play a significant role in propagating gun violence and may serve as a crucial point of intervention.Study Aims: The study aims to utilize a novel hospital-based database to track the gun violence-associated burden on the healthcare system. Methods: The Illinois Hospital Association Health Care and Hospital Data Reporting Services (COMPdata) data for 159 non-federal hospitals was used to analyze trends in ED Gunshot Wound visits over a 27-month period. A Poisson regression was performed to identify Incidence rate ratio (IRR) of mortality and inpatient hospital admission from GSW-related ED visits. Results: The summer of 2016 recorded the greatest number of GSW-related ED visits, with August of 2016 having 389 visits. Overall, assault GSW accounted for 89.1% of all visits, with Cook County accounting for the greatest number of ED visits. There was no significant difference in mortality by patient groups, however, Hispanics and Medicaid/Medicare patient had significantly higher inpatient admission IRR. Discussion: Gun violence in Illinois is mostly attributable to spike and drops within the city of Chicago. Hospital data are one approach to track gun violence within the state of IL, and the ED can provide an important venue for addressing social risk factors associated with gun violence.

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