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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Kari Sutherland, MA¹, Tinka Markham Piper, MPH, CSW², Angela M. Bucciarelli, MPH², Ken Tardiff, MD MPH³, David Vlahov, PhD², and Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH⁴. (1) Department of Psychology, Cornell University, 330 West 76th Street #4B, New York, NY 10023, 212 419 3584, karikaribari@yahoo.com, (2) Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029, (3) Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University, 525 East 68th Street Box 140, New York, NY 10021, (4) Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1214 South University, Room 243, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Firearms were used in 65% of all homicides in the United States (US) in 2000. Nationwide, homicides increased in the mid-1980s, with the largest increases occurring for victims aged 15-24. However all types of non-firearm homicide have decreased since 1980, leaving only firearm-related homicide to account for the increase. We examined trends and correlates of firearm-related homicide in NYC to assess changes in firearm use over the past decade and to identify factors associated with an increased likelihood of firearm homicide. We collected data on all homicide deaths between 1990 and 2000 from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of NYC (OCME). Of the 14,845 homicides between 1990 and 2000, 71.4% (10,590) were firearm-related. There was a decrease in the total numbers of homicide (68.9%), firearm-homicide (72.1%), and in the proportion of firearm-related homicide (70.4% to 63.1%) over the decade. Variables significantly associated with firearm-related homicides in a multivariable model were being male (referent: being female; Odds Ratio (OR) = 4.14), being black or Hispanic (referent: white; OR = 1.83 and 1.65, respectively), age 15-24 (referent: being aged 0-14; OR =11.56), and using cannabis (referent: no drugs, OR=1.69). Our results characterize the dramatic decrease of homicide rates in NYC in the past decade and highlight persons at highest risk of firearm homicide in NYC. Firearm availability and firearm laws, increased law enforcement practices in NYC during the 1990s, and characteristics of the urban context may explain some of the findings documented here and the mechanisms that underlie them.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. To describe current research on firearm homicides during the 1990s across the United States.
• 2. To identify trends, correlates and characteristics of homicides and firearm-related homicides New York City from 1990-2000
• 3. To describe potential social factors and trends in NYC that may explain the dramatic decrease in homicide in NYC during the 1990s

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered