Black, Native Americans Face Highest Firearm Injury Rates

TOPLINE:

Black and Native American people had the highest rate of firearm injuries, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

METHODOLOGY:

• The study measured the prevalence of fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries in the United States from 2019 to 2020 and the number of injuries resulting in death as calculated by case fatality ratios (CFRs).
• Researchers combined data from death certificates and the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample.
• All firearm injuries in the United States were analyzed. Race and ethnicity were grouped into five categories: Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and White.

TAKEAWAY:

• A total of 252,376 firearm injuries occurred during the study period, of which 84,908 were fatal. Of those, 37.8% were categorized as unintentional, 37.3% were linked to assaults, 21% involved self-harm, and 1.3% were associated with law enforcement. The CFR was highest for self-harm (90.9%) and lowest for unintentional injuries.
• Black American (1 per 100,000) and Native American (1.3 per 100,000) individuals had the highest rates of firearm injuries caused by law enforcement. More than half of these injuries (53.8% CFR) in Native American people were fatal, the highest rate among any of the groups in the study.
• Black people had the highest rates of firearm injuries linked to assaults (70.1 per 100,000), as well as unintentional firearm injuries (56.1 per 100,000).
• White people had the highest rate of self-harm (11 per 100,000 population in 2020).

IN PRACTICE:

“Our study documents that firearm injury and death remain a major public health problem in the United States, with notable differences across race and ethnicity, gender, age, and rurality,” the authors wrote. “Better data to more accurately capture underlying causes of firearm injury and case fatality are needed to focus resources and interventions.”

SOURCE:

This study was led by Elinore J. Kaufman, MD, MSHP, of the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, in Philadelphia, and published online on July 30 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

A percentage of assaults were improperly coded as unintentional injuries. The analysis may have miscounted unintentional injuries and nonfatal assaults, as well as injuries involving police.

DISCLOSURES:

No financial conflicts of interest were reported.