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Decreasing incidence of burn injury in a rural state
D E Clark1, C N Dainiak, S Reeder
1Department of Surgery, Maine Medical Center, Portland 04102, USA. clarkd@poa.mmc.org
Objectives:
To determine changes in the incidence of burn injury since the regionalization of burn care and intensification of fire prevention initiatives that occurred in Maine during the 1970s.
Methods:
Death certificate data from Maine and the United States for deaths due to fire or burns were obtained for 1960-98. Hospitalization and burn registry data were obtained for Maine from 1973-98. Frequencies and incidence rates were compared over time and, where possible, between Maine and the United States.
Results:
During 1960-79, annual burn mortality in Maine averaged 5.1/100,000, with random variation. After this, the rate declined steadily to an average annual level of 1.4/100,000 during 1993-96. For the entire United States, average annual mortality declined from 4.2/100,000 during 1961-64 to 1.5/100,000 during 1993-96. Reduction in mortality has been principally due to prevention of dwelling fires. Hospitalization for burns in Maine was 34.8/100,000 during 1973-76 and declined to 10.6/100,000 during 1995-98.
Conclusions:
Burn prevention measures have dramatically reduced the incidence of death and hospitalization resulting from burns in Maine.