Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42426719›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2026

Household firearm ownership, firearm storage, and healthcare engagement.

Alexander Testa, Shiven Patel, Annalyn S DeMello, Mike Henson-Garcia, Dylan B Jackson, Kyle T Ganson, Sandra McKay, Jason M Nagata

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

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

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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

8 authors.

Alexander TestaDepartment of Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Shiven PatelUniversity of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Annalyn S DeMelloDepartment of Research, Cizik School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Mike Henson-GarciaInstitute for Firearm Injury Prevention, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Dylan B JacksonDepartment of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Kyle T GansonFactor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sandra McKayDepartment of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Jason M NagataDivision of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. jason.nagata@ucsf.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6541-0604

Funding

Informing national guidelines on adolescent and young adult physical activity and sedentary behavior to prevent cardiovascular diseaseK08HL159350 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI NAGATA, JASON M · 2021 to 2025
$869k
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 2022056NHLBI NIH HHS K08 HL159350NIH HHS K08HL159350
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess whether (1) household firearm ownership and, among firearm-owning households, (2) household firearm storage are associated with healthcare engagement.

methodsData were from the 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 19 US states (N = 145,720), including a subsample of respondents living in firearm-owning households (n = 54,125). Four indicators of healthcare engagement were assessed: health insurance status, having a personal healthcare provider, cost as a barrier to care, and time since last routine checkup. Multiply imputed, weighted multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between (1) household firearm ownership and (2) household firearm storage (unloaded, loaded and locked, and loaded and unlocked) and healthcare engagement, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, educational attainment, income, presence of a child in the home, military veteran, bad physical health days, urban-rural classification, and state of residence.

resultsIn covariate-adjusted models, household firearm ownership was associated with a higher odds of having a personal health care provider (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.12, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.03-1.21) compared with non-firearm-owning households. Household firearm ownership was not associated with any other healthcare engagement measure. Among firearm-owning households, storing firearms loaded and unlocked was associated with a lower odds lower odds of having health insurance (aOR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.51-0.83), have a personal health care provider (aOR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.54-0.76), and time since last routine checkup (aOR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.69-0.92), compared to storing a firearm unloaded.

conclusionsThese findings highlight the potential value of integrating firearm safety discussions into clinical visits and the need to develop strategies for reaching patients who store firearms unsecured and who engage less consistently with the healthcare system.

Indexed as

Family CharacteristicsFirearmsOwnershipPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdultBehavioral Risk Factor Surveillance SystemFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedUnited StatesYoung AdultFirearmsFirearm StorageHealthcare EngagementInjury Prevention

Identifiers

PMID42426719
PMCPMC13632453

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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 OpenQuestion graph.