345EMF Positioning Public Health Surveillance for Observational Studies: The St. Louis Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Data Repository

Abstract

Firearm injuries are a public health epidemic in the United States, yet a comprehensive national database for patients with firearm injuries does not exist. Here we describe the methods for a study to develop and query a new regional database of all patients who present to a St. Louis level I trauma hospital with a violent injury, the St. Louis Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Data Repository (STL-HVIP-DR). We hypothesize that the STL-HVIP-DR will facilitate identification of patients at risk for violent injury and serve as a comparison population for participants enrolled in clinical trials. The STL-HVIP-DR includes all patients who present with violent injury to level I trauma hospitals in St. Louis, Missouri between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019. Two health systems representing the four participating hospitals executed a data sharing agreement to aggregate clinical data on firearm injuries, stabbings, and blunt assaults. Dataset variables include demographic information, hospital information and timestamps, medical information, and insurance information. A preliminary cross-sectional query of the STL-HVIP-DR reveals 121,955 patient visits among the four partner level I trauma hospitals for a violent injury between 2010 and 2019. This includes over 18,000 patient visits for firearm injury.Table 3Visit Demographics for Assaults and Firearm Injury SubsamplesDemographicAll Assaults (n = 39,378)Firearm Injuries (n=18,336)AgeMean (SD)30 (14.7)28.7 (12.5)IQR20-4020-35Sex, n (%)Male26,710 (68)15,901 (87)Female12,664 (32)2,424 (13)Unknown4 (<1)10 (<1)Race, n (%)Caucasian9,123 (23)2,250 (12)African-American28,854 (73)15,545 (85)Other805 (2)238 (1)Unknown/refused596 (2)303 (2)Ethnicity, n (%)Hispanic/Latino576 (1)212 (1)Other38,642 (98)18,051 (98)Unknown160 (1)73 (<1) Open table in a new tab The STL-HVIP-DR is among the first registry of its type in the US to allow for data sharing in pursuit of linking ED and hospital trauma data among multiple hospital and health systems at the regional level. This repository fills a critical gap regarding identification and outcomes among individuals who are violently injured, especially those with non-lethal firearm injuries.