School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
Reporting Persons With Mental Health Issues: Prospective Study on Gun Control Innovation
Document Type
Poster
Abstract Category
Prevention and Community Health
Keywords
gun control, prevention,
Publication Date
Spring 5-1-2019
Abstract
"School shootings in Parkland, FRL and Santa Fe, TX revived debate about early identification of people who exhibit behavior or symptomology associated with violent behavior. People flagged as at-risk may be reported to third-parties such as psychiatrists and law enforcement and may temporarily or permanently become ineligible to possess firearms. Different stakeholders including teachers, therapists, counselors, family physicians, and emergency physicians could be part of an assessment system to flag individuals. Emergency physicians are uniquely likely to see patients who are experiencing some kind of crisis. This study will assist in determining if emergency physicians are willing to take a role in gun control legislated intervention. An online survey collected information from emergency physicians about: 1) basic demographic characteristics 2) physician knowledge of current firearm eligibility laws 3) physician attitudes about reporting patients to third parties 4) physician attitudes about firearm ownership, permitting and related issues 5) physician political leaning and ideology. The survey will sample emergency departments from a selected urban and rural mix nationwide. Emergency physicians and directors will receive both flyers and emails, directing them to a Qualtrics Web-based survey which includes a consent process. Institutional review board approval for online consent was approved for this study. A power analysis (alpha=.05; beta=.80) suggested that recruiting between 242 and 346 participants equally divided between rural and urban areas would be very good at detecting minimally acceptable differences. 480 EP responded from 42 states with a mean age of 40 yr. (11 SD) with 50% Attendings in practice <7 years; 80 White 61% Male. Party Affiliations: Democrats 50%, Republicans 30% Independent 20%. Political Ideology: Liberals Outnumber Conservatives 2 To 1. The EP knowledge of gun laws was poor with only 42% obtaining a 70% using the NRA, A summary of federal restrictions on the gun purchasing. Over 80% agree across these 3 measures: limit handgun purchase, background checks and handgun restriction on mentally ill patients. Emergency Physicians appear willing to report patients with psychiatric illness and ready to play a role in gun control but are not as informed as one would have hoped. Aside from political leanings and pre-survey expectations, this survey found that physicians can be useful and reliable to report patients with mental health to authorities to be sure they do not possess or make future plans for keeping guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals."
Open Access
1
Reporting Persons With Mental Health Issues: Prospective Study on Gun Control Innovation
"School shootings in Parkland, FRL and Santa Fe, TX revived debate about early identification of people who exhibit behavior or symptomology associated with violent behavior. People flagged as at-risk may be reported to third-parties such as psychiatrists and law enforcement and may temporarily or permanently become ineligible to possess firearms. Different stakeholders including teachers, therapists, counselors, family physicians, and emergency physicians could be part of an assessment system to flag individuals. Emergency physicians are uniquely likely to see patients who are experiencing some kind of crisis. This study will assist in determining if emergency physicians are willing to take a role in gun control legislated intervention. An online survey collected information from emergency physicians about: 1) basic demographic characteristics 2) physician knowledge of current firearm eligibility laws 3) physician attitudes about reporting patients to third parties 4) physician attitudes about firearm ownership, permitting and related issues 5) physician political leaning and ideology. The survey will sample emergency departments from a selected urban and rural mix nationwide. Emergency physicians and directors will receive both flyers and emails, directing them to a Qualtrics Web-based survey which includes a consent process. Institutional review board approval for online consent was approved for this study. A power analysis (alpha=.05; beta=.80) suggested that recruiting between 242 and 346 participants equally divided between rural and urban areas would be very good at detecting minimally acceptable differences. 480 EP responded from 42 states with a mean age of 40 yr. (11 SD) with 50% Attendings in practice <7 >years; 80 White 61% Male. Party Affiliations: Democrats 50%, Republicans 30% Independent 20%. Political Ideology: Liberals Outnumber Conservatives 2 To 1. The EP knowledge of gun laws was poor with only 42% obtaining a 70% using the NRA, A summary of federal restrictions on the gun purchasing. Over 80% agree across these 3 measures: limit handgun purchase, background checks and handgun restriction on mentally ill patients. Emergency Physicians appear willing to report patients with psychiatric illness and ready to play a role in gun control but are not as informed as one would have hoped. Aside from political leanings and pre-survey expectations, this survey found that physicians can be useful and reliable to report patients with mental health to authorities to be sure they do not possess or make future plans for keeping guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals."
Comments
Presented at Research Days 2019.