24 Jan Hospital-Based Violence Prevention Programs Need to Engage More ER Patients

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Coupet

Edouard Coupet Jr, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Yale School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: For many individuals with nonfatal firearm injuries, their only point of contact with the healthcare system may be the emergency department. Both hospital-based violence intervention programs and counseling and safe firearm storage have shown promise in reducing the burden of firearm injury.

In this study, one third of individuals with firearm injuries presented to non-trauma centers. Only 1 out of 5 firearm injuries were assault injuries that led to admission to trauma centers, the population most likely to receive interventions to reduce re-injury. 

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: This study demonstrates that hospital-based violence intervention programs need to be scaled to more trauma centers and engage patients discharged from the emergency department to prevent recurrent injury. There is also a need to determine the best methods to engage individuals suffering from unintentional firearm injuries, particularly at non-trauma centers.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: Future research is needed to determine effective counseling and safe storage interventions for individuals with unintentional firearm injuries that can be adopted in a wide range of emergency departments.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. 

Citation:

Coupet E, Huang Y, Delgado MK. US Emergency Department Encounters for Firearm Injuries According to Presentation at Trauma vs Nontrauma Centers. JAMA Surg. Published online January 23, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2018.4640

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Last Updated on January 24, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD