Research Highlight: Hospitalization Costs of Gun Injuries

A recent study by Corinne Peek-Asa, researcher for the PPC’s Crime & Justice Policy Research Program, contributes key information to the policy debate on gun violence and its burden on public health. The article was published recently in Injury Epidemiology. Along with co-authors Brandon Butcher (UI graduate student in biostatistics) and Joseph Cavanaugh (professor of biostatistics, UI College of Public Health), Peek-Asa investigated the annual direct costs of gun injury hospitalizations in the United States. Using data from the National Inpatient Sample (2003-2013), the authors estimated that acute hospitalization costs associated with gun injuries in the U.S. exceeded $622 million a year. They also estimated hospitalization costs by the type of firearm, the intent behind the gun injury, and the payer source. To read more about the study, click here.

Peek-Asa is a Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in the UI College of Public Health and the Director of the Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC).