University of California, Sacramento, CA, USA.
J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012 Jul;73(1):215-23. doi: 10.1097/TA.0b013e31824c3abc.
Stray bullet shootings contribute to a sense of risk in affected communities but have rarely been studied. We describe the epidemiology and clinical aspects of stray bullet shootings in the United States.
We defined a case as a shooting event involving death or injury to a person and meeting criteria for a stray bullet mechanism of injury. From March 1, 2008, to February 28, 2009, we conducted real-time surveillance using two automated Internet news searches for the term "stray bullet." Secondary searches were performed to identify new cases and additional news reports.
We reviewed 1,996 non duplicate news reports for 501 shooting events, of which 284 (56.7%) met our case criteria. There were 317 persons injured by stray bullets, of whom 65 (20.5%) died. Most cases (59.2%) involved interpersonal violence. When compared with persons killed or injured in firearm-related assaults or unintentional shootings generally in the United States in 2007, those killed or injured by stray bullets were more likely to be female (44.8% and 10.7%, respectively; odds ratio, 7.4; 95% confidence interval, 5.9-9.3) and outside the age range 15 years to 34 years (55.5% and 27.0%, respectively; odds ratio, 5.6; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-7.3). Most stray bullet victims (81.4%) were apparently unaware of the events leading to the gunfire that caused their injuries. Shooters were predominantly male (95.9%); 62.0% were aged 15 years to 34 years. Eighteen deaths (27.7%) occurred at the scene of the shooting and 55 (84.6%) on the day of the shooting. The case-fatality ratio for stray bullet shootings was somewhat higher than that for firearm-related assaults or unintentional shootings in the United States in 2007.
Stray bullet shootings are epidemiologically distinct from other firearm-related injury events. It is likely that not all stray bullet shootings were identified, there may have been differential reporting related to severity of outcome, and missing data were common.
Epidemiological study, level III.
流弹枪击事件会给受影响社区造成一种风险感,但此类事件很少被研究。我们描述了美国流弹枪击事件的流行病学和临床方面。
我们将枪击事件导致人员死亡或受伤且符合流弹机制损伤标准的情况定义为一个病例。从 2008 年 3 月 1 日至 2009 年 2 月 28 日,我们使用两种自动互联网新闻搜索来实时监测“流弹”一词。进行二次搜索以确定新病例和其他新闻报道。
我们审查了 1996 份非重复新闻报道,其中有 501 起枪击事件符合我们的病例标准。有 317 人被流弹击中受伤,其中 65 人(20.5%)死亡。大多数病例(59.2%)涉及人际暴力。与 2007 年美国一般与枪支有关的攻击或意外枪击事件中受伤或死亡的人相比,被流弹击中受伤或死亡的人更有可能是女性(分别为 44.8%和 10.7%;优势比,7.4;95%置信区间,5.9-9.3),且年龄不在 15 岁至 34 岁之间(分别为 55.5%和 27.0%;优势比,5.6;95%置信区间,4.3-7.3)。大多数流弹受害者(81.4%)显然不知道导致其受伤的枪击事件的发生。枪击者主要是男性(95.9%);62.0%的年龄在 15 岁至 34 岁之间。18 人(27.7%)在枪击现场死亡,55 人(84.6%)在枪击当天死亡。流弹枪击的病死率略高于 2007 年美国与枪支有关的攻击或意外枪击事件。
流弹枪击事件在流行病学上与其他与枪支有关的伤害事件不同。可能并非所有流弹枪击事件都被识别出来,可能存在与结果严重程度相关的报道差异,并且数据缺失很常见。
流行病学研究,III 级。