Dataset Information

Firearm Practices, Perceptions of Safety, and Opinions on Injury Prevention Strategies Among California Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Safe firearm storage and other interventions may reduce pediatric firearm deaths and injuries.

Objective

To compare firearm ownership and storage practices, opinions on firearm injury prevention strategies, and perceptions of safety among adults in California households with and without children and/or adolescents.

Design, setting, and participants

This survey study used data from the 2018 California Safety and Well-being Survey, a California-representative, probability-based internet survey. Respondents were part of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, an online research panel that uses address-based sampling and provides survey weights to produce estimates representative of the adult population of California.

Main outcomes and measures

Topics included firearm storage practices, opinions on interventions to reduce pediatric firearm injury, and perceptions of household safety related to firearm ownership. Respondents were stratified by firearm ownership and household presence or absence of children and/or adolescents. Weighted percentages and 95% CIs are presented.

Results

Of 5232 invited panel members, 2558 (48.9%) completed the survey. Among respondents, 52.5% (95% CI, 49.3%-55.7%) were women, 42.9% (95% CI, 39.9%-45.9%) were White, 30.0% (95% CI, 26.8%-32.9%) lived in homes with children, and the mean (SD) age was 48.0 (17.1) years. Among those in homes with children, more than two-thirds of individuals who owned firearms (70.6% [95% CI, 50.1%-85.2%]) and more than half of individuals who did not own firearms but lived in homes with guns (54.9% [95% CI, 37.9%-70.8%]) reported that they believed a firearm in the home made it safer. Half of those who owned firearms (52.3% [95% CI, 34.9%-69.2%]) and more than three-quarters of individuals who did not own firearms but lived in homes with guns (78.4% [95% CI, 57.5%-90.7%]) reported it was always appropriate for parents to inquire about unlocked guns in homes where their children play. Among those who had previously owned at least 1 gun but no longer did, 13.3% (95% CI, 7.1%-23.8%) reported getting rid of guns at least in part due to concern for the safety of a child in the home. Nearly two-thirds of those who owned firearms living with children and/or adolescents (64.5% [95% CI, 46.5%-79.2%]) did not store all firearms in the most secure manner (ie, unloaded and locked up), compared with 36.4% (95% CI, 29.4%-44.1%) of individuals who owned firearms but did not live with children.

Conclusions and relevance

In this study, although a substantial percentage of individuals who owned guns and lived with children did not store all firearms as recommended, parents and caregivers who owned firearms reported being amenable to interventions that reduce young people's risk of firearm-related harm. Future work should investigate acceptable risk reduction and safe storage interventions.

SUBMITTER: Pallin R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8335574 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionFirearm injury and death is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Emergency physicians (EP) may have a unique role in firearm injury prevention. The aim of this study was to describe EPs' beliefs, attitudes, practices, and barriers to identifying risk of and counseling on firearm injury prevention with patients. A secondary aim was assessment of perceived personal vulnerability to firearm injury while working in the emergency department (ED).MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of a national convenience sample of EPs, using questions adapted from the American College of Surgeons' Committee on Trauma 2017 survey of surgeons. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were calculated as appropriate.ResultsA total of 1901 surveys were completed by EPs from across the United States. Among respondents, 42.9% had a firearm at home, and 56.0% had received firearm safety training. Although 51.4% of physicians in our sample were comfortable discussing firearm access with their high-risk patients, more than 70% agreed or strongly agreed that they wanted training on procedures to follow when they identify that a patient is at high risk of firearm injury. Respondents reported a variety of current practices regarding screening, counseling, and resource use for patients at high risk of firearm injury; the highest awareness and self-reported screening and counseling on firearm safety was with patients with suicidal ideation. Although 92.3% of EPs reported concerns about personal safety associated with firearms in the ED, 48.1% reported that there was either no protocol for dealing with a firearm in the ED, or if there was a protocol, they were not aware of it. Differences in demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior were observed between respondents with a firearm in the home, and those without a firearm in the home.ConclusionsAmong respondents to this national survey of a convenience sample of EPs, approximately 40% had a firearm at home. The majority reported wanting increased education and training to identify and counsel ED patients at high risk for firearm injury. Improved guidance on personal safety regarding firearms in the ED is also needed.

Project description:ImportanceFirearm injuries are the second leading cause of death among US children and adolescents. Because of the lack of resources allocated to firearm injury prevention during the past 25 years, research has lagged behind other areas of injury prevention. Identifying timely and important research questions regarding firearm injury prevention is a critical step for reducing pediatric mortality.ObjectiveThe Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens (FACTS) Consortium, a National Institute for Child Health and Human Development-funded group of scientists and stakeholders, was formed in 2017 to develop research resources for the field, including a pediatric-specific research agenda for firearm injury prevention to assist future researchers and funders, as well as to inform cross-disciplinary evidence-based research on this critical injury prevention topic.Evidence reviewA nominal group technique process was used, including 4 key steps (idea generation, round-robin, clarification, and voting and consensus). During idea generation, stakeholders and workgroups generated initial research agenda topics after conducting scoping reviews of the literature to identify existing gaps in knowledge. Agenda topics were refined through 6 rounds of discussion and survey feedback (ie, round-robin, and clarification steps). Final voting (using a 5-point Likert scale) was conducted to achieve consensus (≥70% of consortium ranking items at 4 or 5 priority for inclusion) around key research priorities for the next 5 years of research in this field. Final agenda questions were reviewed by both the stakeholder group and an external panel of research experts not affiliated with the FACTS Consortium. Feedback was integrated and the final set of agenda items was ratified by the entire FACTS Consortium.FindingsOverall, 26 priority agenda items with examples of specific research questions were identified across 5 major thematic areas, including epidemiology and risk and protective factors, primary prevention, secondary prevention and sequelae, cross-cutting prevention factors, policy, and data enhancement.Conclusions and relevanceThese priority agenda items, when taken together, define a comprehensive pediatric-specific firearm injury prevention research agenda that will guide research resource allocation within this field during the next 5 years.

Project description:BackgroundInsights from behavioral economics, or how individuals' decisions and behaviors are shaped by finite cognitive resources (e.g., time, attention) and mental heuristics, have been underutilized in efforts to increase the use of evidence-based practices in implementation science. Using the example of firearm safety promotion in pediatric primary care, which addresses an evidence-to-practice gap in universal suicide prevention, we aim to determine: is a less costly and more scalable behavioral economic-informed implementation strategy (i.e., "Nudge") powerful enough to change clinician behavior or is a more intensive and expensive facilitation strategy needed to overcome implementation barriers?MethodsThe Adolescent and child Suicide Prevention in Routine clinical Encounters (ASPIRE) hybrid type III effectiveness-implementation trial uses a longitudinal cluster randomized design. We will test the comparative effectiveness of two implementation strategies to support clinicians' use of an evidence-based firearm safety practice, S.A.F.E. Firearm, in 32 pediatric practices across two health systems. All pediatric practices in the two health systems will receive S.A.F.E. Firearm materials, including training and cable locks. Half of the practices (k = 16) will be randomized to receive Nudge; the other half (k = 16) will be randomized to receive Nudge plus 1 year of facilitation to target additional practice and clinician implementation barriers (Nudge+). The primary implementation outcome is parent-reported clinician fidelity to the S.A.F.E Firearm program. Secondary implementation outcomes include reach and cost. To understand how the implementation strategies work, the primary mechanism to be tested is practice adaptive reserve, a self-report practice-level measure that includes relationship infrastructure, facilitative leadership, sense-making, teamwork, work environment, and culture of learning.DiscussionThe ASPIRE trial will integrate implementation science and behavioral economic approaches to advance our understanding of methods for implementing evidence-based firearm safety promotion practices in pediatric primary care. The study answers a question at the heart of many practice change efforts: which strategies are sufficient to support change, and why? Results of the trial will offer valuable insights into how best to implement evidence-based practices that address sensitive health matters in pediatric primary care.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04844021 . Registered 14 April 2021.