Study: Los Angeles county's growing youth firearm crisis

Findings revealed at the 2023 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting

Reports and Proceedings

PEDIATRIC ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

The majority of pediatric firearm injuries in Los Angeles County occur in neighborhoods with limited social, health and educational opportunity, according to a new study exploring incidents from 2010 to 2021. The research will be presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2023 Meeting taking place April 27-May 1 in Washington, D.C.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles analyzed firearm injuries in 1,383 children under 18 years old using records from the Trauma and Emergency Medicine Information System, which contains data from 15 trauma centers in LA County. Researchers applied the national Childhood Opportunity Index—a measure of factors that contribute to healthy, productive childhood development—to understand how a lack of resources in a child’s environment relates to firearm injury exposure. The Index is administered by Brandeis University.

The study noted the highest rates of pediatric firearm injuries among children were in neighborhoods with very low (62.7%) and low (22.6%) opportunity, compared to areas with moderate (10.5%), high (3.0%) and very high (1.3%) opportunity.

Findings also revealed that approximately 9.7 pediatric firearm injuries per year occurred for every 100,000 children in neighborhoods with a very low level of opportunity, compared to approximately 0.5 incidences for every 100,000 children living in a very high opportunity environment.  

“Firearms are the leading cause of deaths in children across the United States and this data speaks volumes that a child’s individual risk is far from equal,” says Abigail Brenner, M.D., pediatric resident physician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and presenting author. “We must advocate for children who are disproportionately exposed to firearm injuries and prevent the issue from growing.”

These findings represent a pressing need for targeted advocacy and policy that advances community-level interventions and support, according to the authors.

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EDITOR:

Dr. Brenner will present “Where You Live Matters: Examining Firearm Injuries and Childhood Opportunity Index in LA County” on Sunday, April 30 at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Reporters interested in an interview with Dr. Brenner should contact Amber Fraley at amber.fraley@pasmeeting.org.

The PAS Meeting connects thousands of pediatricians and other health care providers worldwide. For more information about the PAS Meeting, please visit www.pas-meeting.org.

About the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting is the premier North American scholarly child health meeting. The PAS Meeting connects thousands of pediatricians and other health care providers worldwide. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four pediatric organizations that are leaders in the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: American Pediatric Society, Society for Pediatric Research, Academic Pediatric Association and American Academy of Pediatrics. For more information, please visit www.pas-meeting.org. Follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and like us on Facebook PASMeeting.

Abstract: Where You Live Matters: Examining Firearm Injuries and Childhood Opportunity Index in LA County

Presenting Author: Abigail Brenner, M.D.

Organization

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Topic

Injury Prevention

Background

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of pediatric death in the United States, and the neighborhood a child lives in influences their exposure to firearms. Childhood opportunity index (COI) is a metric that combines information across three domains: education, health and environment, and social and environment to create a measurement of neighborhood opportunity. Better understanding the relationship between COI and pediatric firearm injury can lead to more focused interventions on a public health and policy level.

Objective

To examine the association between firearm injuries and COI in Los Angeles (LA) County.

Design/Methods

A retrospective cohort study of children < 18 years old from 2010-2021 was performed using the Trauma and Emergency Medicine Information System database, which contains data on firearm injuries evaluated in 15 LA County trauma centers. Population data for each zip code was collected using the Annual Commuter Survey data. Zip code level COI data was collected from Diversity Data Kids. Firearm injury incidence per 100,000 children was determined for each COI using total population < 18 years in LA County in each COI level (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high). Odds ratios based on absolute frequency of firearm injury per COI level and total population per COI level were calculated to determine the association between COI and firearm injury; very high COI was used as the reference group.

Results

The final analysis included 1383 pediatric firearm injury victims, with a median (IQR) age of 16.0 (15.0, 17.0) years. The highest incidence of firearm injury occurred in children from very low COI representing 62.7% of total occurrences. When compared to children from very high COI, children from very low or low COI neighborhoods were at significantly higher risk of experiencing firearm injury (OR 19.89 (12.47-31.71), OR 9.62 [5.98-15.48], respectively) (Table 1).

Conclusion(s)

Children in neighborhoods with very low opportunity are disproportionately exposed to firearm injury. This represents an important area for advocacy and policy in highlighting the need for community level interventions and support when considering pediatric firearm injury.

Tables and Images

Table 1.png