Talking about firearm injury prevention with patients: a survey of medical residents

BMC Medical Education

Alicia Agnoli¹  Sarabeth Spitzer²  Sara Teasdale³  Amy Barnhorst⁴  Garen J. Wintemute⁵  Rameesha Asif-Sattar⁵  Rocco Pallin⁶ 

[1] Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;Department of General Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Carrie Hall 103, 02115, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;University of California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;Violence Prevention Research Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;University of California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;Violence Prevention Research Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;University of California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95819, Sacramento, CA, USA;Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis, 2315 Stockton Blvd, 95817, Sacramento, CA, USA;

关键词: Medical education;    Firearm injury prevention;    Patient counseling;    Medical interns;    Medical training;    Firearm violence;    Safe fiream storage;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-021-03024-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFirearm injury and death are significant public health problems in the U.S. and physicians are uniquely situated to help prevent them. However, there is little formal training in medical education on identifying risk for firearm injury and discussing safe firearm practices with patients. This study assesses prior education, barriers to counseling, and needs for improved training on firearm safety counseling in medical education to inform the development of future education on clinical strategies for firearm injury prevention.MethodA 2018 survey administered to 218 residents and fellows at a large, academic medical center asked about medical training on firearm injury prevention, frequency of asking patients about firearm access, and perceived barriers.ResultsThe most common barriers cited were not knowing what to do with patients’ answers about access to firearms (72.1%), not having enough time (66.2%), not feeling comfortable identifying patients at-risk for firearm injury (49.2%), and not knowing how to ask patients about firearm access (48.6%). Prior education on firearm injury prevention was more strongly associated with asking than was personal exposure to firearms: 51.5% of respondents who had prior medical education reported asking compared with who had not received such education (31.8%, p=0.004). More than 90% of respondents were interested in further education about interventions, what questions to ask, and legal mechanisms to separate dangerous people from their firearms.ConclusionsEducation on assessing risk for firearm-related harm and, when indicated, counseling on safe firearm practices may increase the likelihood clinicians practice this behavior, though additional barriers exist.

【 授权许可】

CC BY