Related Experiment Videos
Children who are shot: a 30-year experience
D Laraque1, B Barlow, M Durkin
1Division of Pediatrics, Harlem Hospital Medical Center, New York, NY 10037, USA.
Insights
Childhood gunshot injuries in Harlem surged dramatically in the late 1980s, correlating with increased felony drug arrests. Risk factors included dropping out of school and parental loss.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Trauma
- Injury Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood gunshot injuries were rare in Harlem before 1970.
- Admissions for pediatric gunshot injuries at Harlem Hospital peaked in 1988.
- Felony drug arrests in Harlem increased by 163% during the study period.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the pattern of gunshot injuries in children from 1960 to 1993.
- To compare characteristics of injured children with a control group.
- To analyze trends in pediatric gunshot wounds and associated factors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized three data sets: Harlem Hospital Pediatric Trauma Registry (HHPTR), Northern Manhattan Injury Surveillance System (NMISS), and National Pediatric Trauma Registry (NPTR).
- Conducted a case-control study comparing injured adolescents with a control group.
- Analyzed population-based data and hospital registry data.
Main Results:
- A 400% increase in gunshot rates for Central Harlem children (10-16 years) occurred between 1986 and 1987.
- Case fatality for admitted children was 3%, often due to brain injury; most deaths occurred pre-hospitalization.
- Injured Harlem adolescents were more likely to have dropped out of school, lacked a biological parent, experienced parental death, or known a victim of gun violence.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric gunshot injuries in Harlem showed a significant rise, mirroring increases in felony drug arrests.
- Socioeconomic and familial factors are associated with increased risk of gunshot injury in adolescents.
- Findings suggest a need for targeted violence prevention strategies for at-risk youth.
Abstract:
Three data sets describe the pattern of gunshot injuries to children from 1960 to 1993: The Harlem Hospital pediatric trauma registry (HHPTR), the northern Manhattan injury surveillance system (NMISS) a population-based study, and the National Pediatric Trauma Registry (NPTR). A small case-control study compares the characteristics of injured children with a control group. Before 1970 gunshot injuries to Harlem children were rare. In 1971 an initial rise in pediatric gunshot admissions occurred, and by 1988 pediatric gunshot injuries at Harlem Hospital had peaked at 33. Population-based data through NMISS showed that the gunshot rate for Central Harlem children 10 to 16 years of age rose from 64.6 per 100,000 in 1986 to 267.6 per 100,000 in 1987, a 400% increase. The case fatality for children admitted to Harlem Hospital (1960 to 1993) was 3%, usually because of brain injury, but the majority of deaths occurred before hospitalization. During the same period, felony drug arrests in Harlem increased by 163%. The neighboring South Bronx experienced the same increase in gunshot wound admissions and felony arrests from 1986 to 1993. The NPTR showed a similar injury pattern for other communities in the United States. In a case-control analysis. Harlem adolescents who had sustained gunshot wounds were more likely to have dropped out of school, to have lived in a household without a biological parent, to have experienced parental death, and to have known of a relative or friend who had been shot than community adolescents treated for other medical or surgical problems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)