Elsevier

Burns

Volume 28, Issue 6, September 2002, Pages 569-574
Burns

Analysis of 1089 burn patients in province of Kurdistan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-4179(02)00099-2Get rights and content

Abstract

Burn injuries still produce a significant morbidity and mortality in Iran. This study was carried out to analyze the epidemiology, mortality, and current etiological factors of 1089 burn patients in the province of Kurdistan in the west of Iran during the 6 years from 21 March 1994 to 20 March 2000. There were two burn centers in Kurdistan, serving 1.4 million people in an area of 28,000 km2. The incidence rate of burn hospitalization was 13.5 per 100,000 person-years. The median age was 18 years with 58% of the patients under 20 years. The median Body Surface Area (BSA) burned was 40%. Incidence rate of burns for females was 18 per 100,000 person-years and 9.1 per 100,000 person-years for males (P(2)<0.000001). Also there was a statistically significant association between mortality rate and age groups/gender/BBS (P(2)<0.000001). Flame was the most common type of burn (694/1089, 63.7%). There was also a significant correlation between the age groups and types of burn (P(2)<0.000001). Ninety-one percent (991/1089) of the burns were unintentional (12.3 per 100,000 person-years), while suicide attempts by burning for the population aged 13 and older accounted for 12.7% (98/771) (2 per 100,000 person-years). The mortality rate was 4.5 per 100,000 person-years. The study results provide a valuable baseline by which to assess future efforts directed toward the prevention of burn injuries in Kurdistan.

Introduction

Burns by fire, hot liquids, and contact with hot surfaces have been recognized as significant hazards for centuries. Notwithstanding the decreases in burn mortality in economically developed countries, burn injuries continue to be a major public health problem in other countries, including economically developing countries [1]. Epidemiology identifies the incidence and prevalence of disease and injury, including burn injury. However, if burn injury is to be reduced, characteristics of high-risk persons, together with risk factors in the environment, must also be identified to provide a basis for planning effective prevention.

There are a few published studies about burn injuries in different regions in Iran. However, the nature and extent of this problem is still unknown [2], [3], [4], [5]. In this respect, a simple description of the epidemiological data of patients treated in our burn centers would be of great benefit for the region.

Unfortunately, educational programs focusing on the prevention of this type of accident have not been implemented in Kurdistan for many years. Epidemiological studies can underpin the development of such programs. Thus, the present study was carried out to analyze the epidemiology, mortality, and current etiological factors of burn injuries in Kurdistan in order to develop effective burn prevention programs.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

The province of Kurdistan is located in the west of Iran. The population is 1,346,383 people, living in 28,203 km2. There are only two burn units in Kurdistan, located at Tohid and Shahid Beheshti hospitals, in the cities of Sanandaj and Ghorveh. Because of their designation as the burn referral centers for the province, all significant burn cases in Kurdistan are referred to these burn units, making these units a good model for epidemiological research.

Data were obtained by analysis of the

Results

During the time period under review, 33,168 burn patients were seen in the hospitals, at the primary rural and urban health care centers, and clinics in Kurdistan. The overall incidence rate of burns including outpatients and inpatients was 410.6 per 100,000 person-years. Of the 33,168 burn patients, 1089 were subsequently admitted to our burn units. The incidence rate of burn hospitalization was 13.5 per 100,000 person-years.

The distribution of the 1089 patients according to age group and

Discussion

The overall death and hospitalization rates due to burn injuries in Kurdistan were 4.5 and 13.5 per 100,000 person-years, respectively. Few such data have been reported from Iran [2], [3], [4], [5]. In this respect, Panjeshahin et al. [4] reported death and hospitalization rates of 4.6 and 13.4 per 100,000 person-years in Fars province Iran which is similar to our results.

The maximum burn incidence rates were observed in age groups ⩽5 and 16–25 years. It is comparable with other reports from

Conclusions

The highest incidence rates of burns were in the children and young age groups. Burn injuries were more frequent and larger with higher mortality in females than in males. Flame was the major cause of burns. Self-inflicted burns were noted mainly in young women and resulted in 76.5% mortality. It is necessary to implement programs for health education relating to prevention of burn injuries by means of broadcast flashes on television or the radio, showing risk situations together with

Acknowledgements

This work was completed in the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran.

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