A retrospective analysis of 6358 firearm-injury emergency department visits by children under 18 across hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System, 2016-2023, used segmented Poisson regression to locate change points. Monthly visits rose from an average of 44.1 in 2016 to 83.3 in 2023, with change points in March and June 2020 and no significant linear change thereafter. The proportions hospitalised (50.7-55.5%) and dying in hospital (5.7-8.1%) were stable, so the rise reflects incidence rather than severity.
Why it is interesting: Shows the 2020 step change in US paediatric firearm injury as a persistent new level rather than a pandemic spike that reversed.