Burn injuries in primary care in the Netherlands: Risk factors and trends

Research to date has mainly focused on burn injuries treated in secondary care. This study aims to provide knowledge on the epidemiology of burn injuries in primary care, to give directions for burn prevention.

Data were derived from routine electronic health records of general practices and their out-of-hours service organisations in the Netherlands that participated in the Nivel Primary Care Database 2010-2015. We studied risk factors and trends.

The average burn injury prevalence rate was 4.40 (95% CI 4.27-4.53) per 1000 person-years in daytime general practice care and 1.47 (95% CI 1.46-1.49) per 1000 inhabitants in out-of-hours care. Children of 0-4 years old, especially boys, and young adult women had a higher risk. Burn injury risk was higher during the summer months and around New Year's Eve. Living in low socioeconomic and strongly urbanised neighbourhoods was associated with a higher risk of burn injury than living in other neighbourhoods.

Dutch general practitioners have a large share in burn care and therefore can play a significant role in burn prevention. Prevention may be most effective in the summer and around New Year's Eve, and specific attention seems to be warranted for low socioeconomic groups and strongly urbanised neighbourhoods.