Youth who receive an emergency care treatment for injuries suffered in a fight have nearly 60 percent chance of becoming involved in a violent incident involving a firearm within the next two years, says a study.
"This study shows that youth seen and treated in urban emergency departments for an assault also have an elevated risk for severe forms of violence, including firearm violence, over the next two years," said Patrick Carter, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan.
The new findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, come from a long-term study of nearly 600 young men and women between the ages of 14 and 24 living in Michigan in the US.
Researchers connected with the young people on their initial visit to an emergency department and then again every six months during the next two years.
"The data also provides information on associated factors that increase this risk, and provides a roadmap for constructing evidence-based interventions to reduce the risk for severe firearm-related injury or death among high-risk youth populations," Carter noted.
Although all the young people in the study had recently used drugs, those who had a diagnosable drug use disorder were noted to have an elevated risk for a firearm incident.
So did those who met the diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder before or during their emergency visit, and those who favoured retaliation when asked about the best way to respond to insults or incidents.
Those who reported having a firearm at the time of their initial emergency visit were much more likely to report being involved in a subsequent violent firearm incident.
The findings could help prevent future firearm incidents and other violent incidents among high-risk youth populations.
