BOSTON, MA (WBZ-AM) -- Medical researchers at Boston University say men are at substantially higher risk than women of being readmitted to the hospital during the first three months after suffering a gunshot wound.
The findings have significant implications for the nation's health care system.
Boston University Medical School researchers say men were 40-percent more likely than woman to be readmitted to the hospital within the first three months after being shot.
And after six months men were more than three times more likely that woman to be readmitted for heart related problems
Researchers say the findings are important because non-fatal gunshot wounds have been on the rise nationally since 2001 while fatal shooting have remained constant.
And the cost of medical care and recovery for gunshot wound patients has increased greatly, constituting a public health problem.
WBZ NewsRadio1030’s Mike Macklin reports.