Epidemiological profile of burns in children in central and southern Tunisia: A 67-case series

Effect of a Childhood Burn Prevention Program on Knowledge Level of Caregivers and Burn Risk Factors

BACKGROUND

Prevention activities are very important in paediatric burns. More than 73% of burns occur at home. This study aimed to develop a Childhood Burn Prevention Program for caregivers of children with burns and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for reducing burn risk factors for children at home as well as increasing the relevant knowledge of caregivers on burn prevention.

METHODS

"Childhood Burn Prevention Program" was developed in the study. Within the scope of the program, caregivers were interviewed twice at home visits. At the first home visit, caregivers were trained in burn prevention and a poster including burn risk factors was put in their homes. In addition, the knowledge levels of caregivers about burns and risk factors in home settings were evaluated in the first and second home visits.

RESULTS

We found the total risk factor for burns in home settings was 28.94 ± 6.24 before the training and 14.68 ± 3.74 after the training (p < 0.05). In addition, the total number of correct answers given by the caregivers to the questions about burns before the training was 8.60 ± 2.62 and 11.71 ± 1.70 after the training (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This Childhood Burn Prevention Program can be used to reduce risk factors for burns at home and to increase the relevant knowledge of caregivers of children.

Magnitude of mortality and its associated factors among Burn victim children admitted to South Gondar zone government hospitals, Ethiopia, from 2015 to 2019

BACKGROUND

Burn is one of the leading causes of preventable death and disability every year in low and middle-income countries, which mainly affects those aged less than 15 years. Death from burn injuries carries the most significant losses, which often have grave consequences for the countries. Even though data from different settings are necessary to tackle it, pieces of evidence in this area are limited. Thus, this study was aimed to answer the question, what is the Magnitude of Mortality? And what are the factors associated with mortality among burn victim children admitted to South Gondar Zone Government Hospitals, Ethiopia, from 2015 to 2019?

METHODS

Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to study 348 hospitalized burn victim pediatrics', from 2015 to 2019. A simple random sampling method was used. Data were exported from Epidata to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Significant of the variables were declared when a p-value is < 0.05.

RESULT

The mortality rate of burn victim children in this study was 8.5% (95% CI = 5.5-11.4). Medical insurance none users burn victim children were more likely (AOR 3.700; 95% CI =1.2-11.5) to die as compared with medical insurance users, burn victim children with malnutrition were more risk (AOR 3.9; 95% CI = 1.3-12.2) of mortality as compared with well-nourished child. Moreover, electrical (AOR 7.7; 95% CI = 1.8-32.5.2) and flame burn (AOR 3.3; 95% CI = 1.2-9.0), total body surface area greater than 20% of burn were more likely (AOR 4.6; 95% CI 1.8-11.8) to die compared to less than 20% burn area and burn victim children admitted with poor clinical condition at admission were four times (AOR 4.1, 95% CI = 1.3-12.0) of mortality compared to a good clinical condition.

CONCLUSION

The mortality among burn victim children was higher than most of the studies conducted all over the world. Medical insurance none users, being malnourished, burned by electrical and flame burn, having total body surface area burnt greater than 20%, and having poor clinical condition at addition were significantly associated with mortality of burn victim pediatrics. Therefore, timely identification and monitoring of burn injury should be necessary to prevent mortality of burn victim pediatrics.

Pediatric victims involved in urban fires in Paris and its suburbs: Epidemiology, prehospital care, and lessons learned

AIM

The literature includes few reports on the prehospital care of pediatric casualties of urban house fires. Here we aimed to describe the epidemiology of pediatric fire victims, focusing on their injuries, prehospital care, and survival.

METHODS

This retrospective study included children under 15 years of age who were victims of urban house fires and who received care from prehospital medical teams. The variables analyzed included epidemiology, specific care provided by prehospital emergency services, the number of cardiac arrests, and survival rates.

RESULTS

Over the 15-month study period, 365 house fires required the presence of at least one prehospital medical team. Casualties of these fires included 121 pediatric victims (median age, 4 years [interquartile range: 2-9 years]). All children were initially treated by a prehospital medical team that was not specialized in pediatrics. Six children (4.9%) received secondary treatment from a pediatric support team. Of the 121 children, 114 (94.2%) suffered from smoke inhalation and seven (5.8%) from burns. Two patients who were in cardiac arrest at their initial medical care did not survive.

CONCLUSION

Pediatric fire casualties were initially managed by prehospital medical teams that were not specialized in pediatrics. As in adults, the main injuries were secondary to smoke inhalation, but this has increased toxicity in children. Prehospital teams not specialized in pediatrics can optimize their practice via the sharing of experiences, team training, and cognitive aid checklist for pediatric fire victims.

A Decade Epidemiological Study of Pediatric Burns in South West of Iran

BACKGROUND

Burn is one of the most traumatic injuries and life-threatening states which expose children at a higher risk. The aim of this study was evaluating the epidemiology of pediatric burns in age less than eighteen years old during the last decade.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was carried out during 2008-2017 in Amir-al Momenin Burn Center, affiliated by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. The subjects consisted of burn victims under 18 years old who were registered as outpatients and inpatients.

RESULTS

During the study period, 1893 and 12431 patient were registered as inpatients and outpatients of the hospital. The burn victims were males. Children under 5 years old were prone to scald injuries more than children in any other age. More than 90% of inpatients children burned accidentally, while 116 (6.12%) burn injuries were suicidal; which was mostly seen in girls (75%, 87 out of 116).

CONCLUSION

Most burns involved scalds from hot liquids especially in children age less than 5 years. Different strategies can be executed by means of broadcast flashes in mass media and educational programs through schools to show risk situation and statements calling attention to prevent childhood burn injuries.