Patients with burn injuries admitted to Norwegian hospitals - a population-based study

The objective of this article is to elucidate the scope of burn injuries in Norway, on the basis of those patients who had sustained a burn injury that caused hospitalisation through a calendar year.

The article is based on data retrieved from the Norwegian Patient Registry on patients discharged from Norwegian hospitals in 2012 with a burn injury as their main diagnosis, supplemented with activity data for children admitted to the Burn Unit, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, during the period 2013 – 15.

In 2012, altogether 620 people (12.4/100 000 inhabitants) were hospitalised with burn injuries. Of these patients, 393 (63.4 %) were men. A total of 375 patients (60 %) were hospitalised more than once, and 124 (20 %) were admitted to more than one hospital. Altogether 367 patients (59 %) were hospitalised for less than eight days. Average hospitalisation time for the group as a whole was 11.3 days (SD 18.8 days). Many of the burn-injured patients were young: the average age was 27.4 years (SD 26.0 years). As many as 183 patients (30 %) were less than three years old. Children in this age group were admitted for burn injuries 12 times more frequently than children ≥ 5 years and adults.

We found no definite reduction in burn injuries as a cause for admission to Norwegian hospitals in 2012 when compared to results from previous studies for the period 1992 – 2007. There ought to be a major potential for more effective prevention of burn injuries in the age group < 3 years, in which scalding (78 %) and contact with hot surfaces (most often stoves) (17 %) are the main mechanisms of injury.