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The study abstract, "Hospitalizations for Firearm Injuries in Children and Adolescents in the US: Rural Versus Urban," will be presented Monday, Sept. 18, at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. For the study, researchers analyzed the Kids' Inpatient Database to identify hospitalizations for injuries due to firearms in patients under age 20. A total of 21,843 hospitalizations from 2006, 2009, and 2012 were compared based on demographics, rural versus urban location, and the cause of the injury (assault, suicide attempt, accidental, or undetermined). Researchers found that most of the pediatric firearm injuries resulting in hospitalization occurred among older teens (ages 15 to 19) and that those living in urban areas had the highest rate of hospitalization. However, among younger children (ages 5 to 14) the rate of hospitalization was higher in rural areas. Accidental firearm injuries were the most common cause of hospi...

The study abstract, "Opioid abuse in children: An emerging public health crisis," will be presented on Monday, Sept. 18, during the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2017 National Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. Researchers performed a retrospective analysis of the 2008-2013 data from the Nationwide Emergency Department (ED) Sample, the largest all-payer ED database in the United States. They found the number of ED visits by patients age 21 and younger for any reason who were diagnosed with addiction or dependency on opioids -- which include prescription painkillers as well as illicit drugs such as heroin -- rose from 32,235 in 2008 to 49,626 in 2013. "It was very concerning to see that by the last year we studied, an average of 135 children each day were testing positive for opioid addiction or dependency in emergency departments," said Veerajalandhar Allareddy, MD, MBA, one of the abstract's authors and medical director of the pediatric inten...

"Gun violence is a public health epidemic in the United States, but a simple question or short conversation about gun safety can protect children from this danger," said lead author Nina Agrawal MD, FAAP. "This study shows us that parents are far more likely to ask about guns in a home before a playdate if they feel empowered by their pediatricians to do so, and asking can save precious young lives." The AAP recommends that physicians talk to families about gun safety as part of routine injury-prevention guidance, just like they counsel families about child safety seats, safe sleep and water safety. The ASK campaign encourages caregivers to ask family and friends if there is a gun where their child plays and, if a gun is present, to ensure that it is locked with the ammunition separately. The study was conducted in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York, a neighborhood with high rates of gun violence. Nine percent of participants said they knew someone who ...

The abstract, "Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Immigrants and their Children," will be presented on Sunday, Sept. 17 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Prior research shows half of the U.S. population had at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, such as abuse, neglect, household violence, substance abuse or mental illness, or loss of family members through divorce, separation or incarceration. As many as one-third experienced four or more, which puts them at higher risk for later depression, violent behavior, and a number of chronic diseases . "Our findings suggest that violence, abuse, and neglect may be much less common in the lives of immigrant parents and their children than in the lives of U.S.-born counterparts. This may challenge assumptions about immigrants and what their unique health risks and needs may be," said Keith Martin, DO, MS, one of the abstract's authors and third-year pediatrics resident Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansa...