Evidence mapPaperPMID 41551920Full record

ArticleLancet regional health. Americas2026

US emergency department visits by women due to assault (2018-2021): a retrospective cross-sectional analysis.

Summer Chavez, Irma Ugalde, Michael Ulrich, Omolola Adepoju, Tonghui Xu, Winston Liaw

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Lancet regional health. Americas, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Summer ChavezTilman J. Fertitta College of Medicine, University of Houston, United States.
Irma UgaldeUniversity of Chicago Medicine, United States.
Michael UlrichCenter for Health Law, Ethics, & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health, United States.
Omolola AdepojuTilman J. Fertitta College of Medicine, University of Houston, United States.
Tonghui XuHumana Integrated Health Sciences Institute, United States.
Winston LiawTilman J. Fertitta College of Medicine, University of Houston, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence has played a key role in linking firearms and homicide amongst female individuals. Combined with the increase of reports of violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in emergency department (ED) visits may be witnessed. Our aim was to estimate the changes in prevalence and risk factors associated with assault and firearm-related emergency department (ED) visits by female patients following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of female patients presenting to EDs due to assault from the National Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) from 2018 to 2021. Independent variables included age, race, mortality, ED disposition, primary payer, location, mean total ED chargers, quartile ZIP income, and mechanism and intent of injury. The adjusted association between independent variables and ED visits among patients injured by firearms compared to those injured by other assaults was examined. Findings: The analytic sample represented an estimated 1,575,543 ED weighted records of female assault cases out of a total weighted sample of 537,133,200 observations (0.29%). While year-over-year ED encounters decreased, firearm injuries and the proportion of patients admitted and dying in the hospital increased. Female patients who were injured by firearms had 89 times higher risk of dying in the ED (RR = 88.82; 95% CI 6 = 72.38-97.06) compared to female patients injured by non-firearm injury mechanisms. Racial disparities were prevalent, with Native American women experiencing the greatest risk of being assaulted (RR = 2.81; 95% CI 2.67-2.97). Victims of firearm related assaults had nearly 4.12 times the risk of identifying as Black compared with those assaulted without firearms (95% CI 3.75-4.52). Female patients seeking care for assault had higher risk of being uninsured (95% CI 2.70-2.77). Interpretation: While year-over-year ED encounters due to assault decreased, lockdowns and restrictions associated with the observed COVID-19 pandemic may not fully reflect changes in abuse rates in this time period. The strong connection between firearm presence and female homicide and continuations of assault and firearm-related ED visits among vulnerable demographic groups highlights the need for effective strategies to reduce violence. Funding: Unfunded.

Indexed as

DisparitiesDomestic violenceFirearm injuriesGender-based violenceHealthcare utilizationHomicideIntimate partner violenceViolence against women

Identifiers

PMID41551920
PMCPMC12811418

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.