Citation

Hayes DN, Sege R. Ann. Emerg. Med. 2003; 42(6): 798-807.

Affiliation

Division of Clinical Care Research, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. nhayes@tuft-nemc.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American College of Emergency Physicians, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0196064403007224

PMID

14634606

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Adolescent firearms-carrying is a risk factor for serious injury and death. Clinical screening tools for firearms-carrying have not yet been developed. We present the development of a preliminary screening test for adolescent firearms-carrying based on the growing body of knowledge of firearms-related risk factors. METHODS: A convenience sample of 15,000 high school students from the 1999 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey was analyzed for the purpose of model building. Known risk factors for firearms-carrying were candidates for 2 models predicting recent firearms-carrying. The "brief FiGHTS score" screening tool excluded terms related to sexual behavior, significant substance abuse, or criminal behavior (Fi=fighting, G=gender, H=hurt while fighting, T=threatened, S=smoker). An "extended FiGHTS score," which included 13 items, was developed for more precise estimates. RESULTS: The brief FiGHTS score had a sensitivity of 82%, a specificity of 71%, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.84. The extended FiGHTS score had an area under the ROC curve of 0.90. Both models performed well in a validation data set of 55,000 students. CONCLUSION: The brief and extended FiGHTS scores have high sensitivity and specificity for predicting firearms-carrying and may be appropriate for clinical testing.