Firearm Injuries: Pediatric long-term health outcomes and healthcare expenditures

Background/Purpose: Firearm injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children. Over 40,000 children died by firearms between 2000-2018, and an estimated 200,000 suffered non-fatal firearm injuries during the same period. Despite these staggering figures, there is limited information about the impact of firearm injuries on pediatric health care resource use. Our goal was to evaluate healthcare encounters and expenditures for children one year before and one year following a firearm injury. Methods: Cohort study of children 0-18 years identified using ICD-9/ICD-10 diagnosis codes for firearm injury in the ED or inpatient setting from 2010-2016 in the Medicaid MarketScan (IBM Watson, Armonk, New …