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Etiology of childhood burns and parental awareness in Turkey
İsa Sözen1, Cem Emir Güldoğan1, Ahmet Çınar Yastı2
1Clinic of General Surgery, Burns Treatment Center, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Insights
Most childhood burns result from preventable home injuries, often caused by hot liquids. Immediate cooling with tap water is crucial, and public awareness campaigns are needed to reduce burn incidence.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric trauma
- Burn prevention
- Public health
Background:
- Burns are a significant global health issue, particularly devastating for children.
- A majority of childhood burns stem from preventable injuries, often linked to parental or caregiver negligence.
- Understanding burn etiologies is critical for developing effective preventive strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the primary causes and circumstances surrounding childhood burn injuries.
- To inform the development of targeted public health interventions and safety measures.
- To analyze the immediate first aid practices and transport methods used for burn victims.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 100 pediatric burn patients admitted to clinics.
- Data collection through questionnaires administered to parents or caregivers.
- Analysis of injury circumstances, etiology, first aid, and transportation to hospital.
Main Results:
- The average patient age was 3.74 years, with 52% males.
- Most burns (78%) occurred in the child's home, often during meal times (62% dining in the living room on the floor).
- Hot liquids were the leading cause (p<0.003), and inadequate first aid (no cooling or incorrect application like ice) was common (21% received no intervention).
Conclusions:
- Inattentiveness or lack of awareness near children contributes to many burn injuries.
- Avoiding floor dining and unsafe stove heating practices can decrease burn incidence.
- Proper immediate burn care, such as cooling with running tap water, is essential to prevent deeper injury and improve outcomes.
Objective:
Burns continue to be a devastating trauma worldwide. Most of the childhood burns are due to preventable injuries. Burns occurring as a result of negligence of the parents'/carers' may cause mortality or life-long morbidities. Identification of the etiologies will direct the precautions that should be undertaken.
Material And Methods:
One hundred consequent burn patients admitted to our clinics were included to the study. A questionnaire was filled in with the information gathered from the parents/carers.
Results:
The mean age of the patients was 3.74±3.07 years, and 52% was male. Most of the injuries occurred in the noon (median 12:45). Seventy-eight percent of the burns occurred at children's own home. Parents/carers were close enough to prevent the child from injury in 66% of the cases. While there was no first intervention in 21% of burns, 14% applied ice and 1% yoghurt. Taxi was the means to reaching the hospital in 45%. Hot liquids were the leading etiology (p<0.003). Sixty-two percent of the patients were dining at the living room and on the floor.
Conclusion:
The occurrence of the majority of injuries near parents/carers can be related to inadvertence or lack of awareness. To decrease burns incidence among children in our country, dining at the floor and stove heating should be avoided as much as possible. Not cooling the burn with running tap water at the time of injury leads to deepening of the burn, which consequently makes management more complex. Based on our study, there is an apparent need for determination of preventive measurements and to raise public awareness.
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