A key insight illustrated in infographic form.
In honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day today, this week’s graphic features data from the Vizient Clinical Data Base on 33.3 million pediatric emergency department (ED) discharges between 2019 and 2024. After peaking early in the pandemic, youth firearm injury ED visits were down across all age groups in 2024. However, significant disparities exist. Patients with firearm injuries are more likely to have higher Vizient Vulnerability Index scores or be more affected by social needs or obstacles that influence their health than the average pediatric ED patient. Additionally, these types of injuries are more likely to happen to a youth who lives in a state without child access prevention laws, has Medicaid coverage rather than commercial coverage or has a substance use disorder. Most starkly, a black child is more than 3 times more likely than a white child to experience this kind of ED encounter. Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death among U.S. children and teens. Understanding the social determinants at play is key to future public health strategies addressing this issue.
