Costs for Long-Term Health Care after a Police Shooting in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Importance: Police shootings can cause serious acute injury, and knowledge of subsequent health outcomes may inform interventions to improve care. Objective: To analyze long-term health care costs among survivors of police shootings compared with those surviving nonfirearm police enforcement injuries using a retrospective design. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort analysis identified adults (age ≥16 years) who were injured by police and required emergency medical care between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2022, in Ontario, Canada. Exposure: Police shootings compared with other mechanisms of injury involving police. Main Outcomes and Measures: Long-term health care costs determined using a validated costing algorithm. Secondary outcomes included short-term mortality, acute care treatments, and rates of subsequent disability. Results: Over the study, 13545 adults were injured from police enforcement (mean [SD] age, 35 [12] years; 11637 males [86%]). A total of 13520 individuals survived acute injury, and 8755 had long-term financial data available (88 surviving firearm injury, 8667 surviving nonfirearm injury). Patients surviving firearm injury had 3 times greater health care costs per year (CAD$16223 vs CAD$5412; mean increase, CAD$9967; 95% CI, 6697-13237; US $11982 vs US $3997; mean increase, US $7361; 95% CI, 4946-9776; P