Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Nov 22;8(1):e001181.
doi: 10.1136/tsaco-2023-001181. eCollection 2023.

Firearms-related injury and sex: a comparative National Trauma Database (NTDB) Study

Catherine Zwemer  1 , Susan Kartiko  2 , Maximilian Peter Forssten  3   4 , James A Zebley  2 , Joy Dowden Hughes  5 , Babak Sarani  6 , Shahin Mohseni  3   7
Affiliations

Firearms-related injury and sex: a comparative National Trauma Database (NTDB) Study

Catherine Zwemer et al. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. .

Abstract

Background: Existing study findings on firearms-related injury patterns are largely skewed towards males, who comprise the majority of this injury population. Given the paucity of existing data for females with these injuries, we aimed to elucidate the demographics, injury patterns, and outcomes of firearms-related injury in females compared with males in the USA.

Materials and methods: A 7-year (2013-2019) retrospective review of the National Trauma Database was conducted to identify all adult patients who suffered firearms-related injuries. Patients who were males were matched (1:1, caliper 0.2) to patients who were females by demographics, comorbidities, injury patterns and severity, and payment method, to compare differences in mortality and several other post-injury outcomes.

Results: There were 196 696 patients admitted after firearms-related injury during the study period. Of these patients, 23 379 (11.9%) were females, 23 378 of whom were successfully matched to a male counterpart. After matching, females had a lower rate of in-hospital mortality (18.6% vs. 20.0%, p<0.001), deep vein thrombosis (1.2% vs. 1.5%, p=0.014), and had a lower incidence of drug or alcohol withdrawal syndrome (0.2% vs. 0.5%, p<0.001) compared with males.

Conclusion: Female victims of firearms-related injuries experience lower rates of mortality and complications compared with males. Further studies are needed to elucidate the cause of these differences.

Level of evidence: Level III.

Keywords: Wounds, Gunshot; gender; morbidity; mortality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Jacobs L, Burns K, Luk S, Hull S. Advanced trauma operative management course: participant survey. World J Surg 2010;34:164–8. 10.1007/s00268-009-0276-z - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nance ML. National trauma data bank 2012 annual report [American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma Leadership]. Available: https://www.facs.org/media/ebgfrtdn/ntdb-annual-report-2012.pdf
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Injury prevention & control:data & statistics (WISQ-ARSTM). Available: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
    1. Cook A, Osler T, Hosmer D, Glance L, Rogers F, Gross B, Garcia-Filion P, Malhotra A. Gunshot wounds resulting in hospitalization in the United States: 2004-2013. Injury 2017;48:621–7. 10.1016/j.injury.2017.01.044 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Richmond TS, Branas CC, Cheney RA, Schwab CW. The case for enhanced data collection of gun type. J Trauma Inj Infect Crit Care 2004;57:1356–60. 10.1097/01.TA.0000141886.22472.F5 - DOI - PubMed