Inj Prev. 2024 Aug 30:ip-2024-045293. doi: 10.1136/ip-2024-045293. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mexico is among the countries with the highest mortality rates by firearms worldwide. We aimed to analyse the trend in the burden of firearm violence (FV) by age and sex in Mexico at a national and subnational level, and the association between this burden and the Sociodemographic Index.

METHODS: We used estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD)-2019 study for the analysis of FV mortality, premature mortality and disability for all available age-groups and by sex. The GBD data separates FV into three categories-interpersonal violence from firearms, unintentional injuries from firearms and self-harm from firearms. We used a joinpoint regression analysis to analyse the temporal trends of the FV burden.

RESULTS: FV exhibited a non-significant increase. By cause, there was a significant increase in the burden of interpersonal violence from firearms, a non-significant decrease in the burden of self-harm from firearms and a significant decrease in the burden of unintentional injuries from firearms. Most of the FV burden is attributed to interpersonal violence from firearms. Almost the entirety of the burden of FV results from premature mortality. The incidence of FV disability adjusted life years (DALYs) was significantly higher among males than females, and was most concentrated in males aged 20-44 and females aged 15-49. Significant heterogeneity in FV DALY trends was observed at the subnational level.

CONCLUSION: These results may help to better understand the burden of FV and help the design and implementation of national and local preventive policies.

PMID:39214684 | DOI:10.1136/ip-2024-045293