An epidemiological study of 500 paediatric burn patients in Mumbai, India

ABSTRACT

Aim: To study the epidemiological data of paediatric burn patients to determine the role of demographic distribution and epidemiological parameters for assessment of mortality rate and development of burn prevention strategy.Materials and methods : epidemiological data of 500 patients admitted to the burns and plastic surgery unit of b.j. wadia hospital, mumbai over a period of six years (2000-2005) was reviewed from medical records. age, sex, demographic distribution, seasonal variation, total body surface area (tbsa) involved, type and place of burn injury, parental occupation, family size, first aid and mortality rate were studied.Result: Median age group for patient was 3.44 years (range one month to 14 years). the majority (24%) of burns occurred in children between the one to two years age group. male to female sex ratio was 1.38:1. most of the patients were from the defined demographic region served by the hospital. a significant number of patients however were from outside this region. burn injury occurred predominantly during winter. most common type of burn was scalds which occurred mainly in domestic circumstances. in the majority of patients, less than 10% tbsa was involved. all patients were managed as per the unit protocol. mortality rate was 10.4%. mortality rate was high in patients having more than 40% tbsa involvement. seventy-three per cent of the total deaths occurred in the patients coming from regions outside the demographic region served by the hospital. parental occupation, family size and the first aid did not affect the mortality rate.Conclusion: Availability of a burn care unit in the vicinity can decrease the mortality rates in the paediatric burn patients. an intense and focused burn prevention campaign to educate the general population about dangerous aetiological factors will decrease the incidence of paediatric burns.

KEY WORDS

burns prevention - epidemiology - paediatric burns

• 1 Bouter LM, Knipschild PG, van JLRijn, Meertens RM. How to study the etiology of burn injury: The epidemiological approach. Burns 1989; 15: 162-6
• 3 Keswani MH. The prevention of burning injury. Burns Incl Therm Inj 1986; 12: 533-9
• 3 Cheng JC, Leung KS, Lam ZC, Leung PC. An analysis of 1704 burn injuries in Hong Kong children. Burns 1990; 16: 182-4
• 4 Chapman JC, Sarhadi NS, Watson AC. Declining incidence of paediatric burns in Scotland: A review of 1114 children with burns treated as inpatients and outpatients in a regional centre. Burns 1994; 20: 106-10
• 5 ElÍsdóttir R, LúdvÍgsson P, Einarsson O, ThorgrÍmsson S, Haraldsson A. Paediatric burns in Iceland. Hospital admissions 1982-1995, a populations based study. Burns 1999; 25: 149-51
• 6 Zeitlin R, Somppi E, Jarnberg J. Paediatric burns in central Finland between the 1960s and the 1980s. Burns 1993; 19: 418-22
• 7 Ryan CA, Shankowsky HA, Tredget EE. Profile of the paediatric burn patient in a Canadian burn centre. Burns 1992; 18: 267-72
• 8 Morrow SE, Smith DL, Cairns BA, Howell PD, Nakayama DK, Peterson HD. Etiology and outcome of pediatric burns. J Pediatr Surg 1996; 31: 329-33
• 9 Mercier C, Blond MH. Epidemiological survey of childhood burn injuries in France. Burns 1996; 22: 29-34
• 10 Ying SY, Ho WS. An analysis of 550 hospitalized pediatric burn patients in Hong Kong. J Burn Care Rehabil 2001; 22: 228-31
• 11 Gupta M, Gupta OK, Goil P. Paediatric burns in Jaipur, India: An epidemiological study. Burns 1992; 18: 63-7
• 12 Mukerji G, Chamania S, Patidar GP, Gupta S. Epidemiology of paediatric burns in Indore, India. Burns 2001; 27: 33-8
• 13 Iregbulem LM, Nnabuko BE. Epidemiology of childhood thermal injuries in Enugu, Nigeria. Burns 1993; 19: 223-6
• 14 Enescu D, Davidescu I, Enescu M. Paediatric burns in Bucharest, Romania: 4327 cases over a 5-year period. Burns 1994; 20: 154-6
• 15 Ramakrishnan KM, Sankar J, Venkatraman J. Profile of pediatric burns Indian experience in a tertiary care burn unit. Burns 2005; 31: 351-3