A Retrospective Study: Analysis of Epidemiological Characteristics of Burn Patients Admitted to Shifa Hospital, Gaza

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this study was to understand the pattern of burn injuries and demographic characteristics of burn patients admitted to Shifa hospital, in order to provide baseline information for burn prevention programs. Methods: A retrospective study design was used in order to analyze demographic, etiologic and medical data of 188 burn patients admitted to Shifa hospital between January 2005 and December 2005. Data was obtained from the patients' medical files in the archive department of Shifa hospital using a structured data collection form. Results: Toddlers and young adults were groups at higher risks for burn injuries. Children in general were at a higher risk than adults as they comprised 69.7% of the total study population. Male gender 58.5% predominated over female gender 41.5% with a male to female ratio of (1.4:1). Hot liquids were the main cause of burn injuries among 56.4% of burn patients and open fire was the second cause of burn injuries by 33.5%. Inhalation injury occurrence rate was 5.3%. Ninety one percent of the burn injuries occurred at home. Most of the burn injuries were partial thickness burns 58% or mixed degrees of burn depths 35.1%. The majority of the patients 57.4% had burns affecting up to 10% total burn surface area (TBSA) and patients with burns more than 40% TBSA comprised 5.3%. Surgical procedures were used in the management of 13.3% of the study population. The most risky season for burn injuries was winter followed by spring season. The mean duration of length of hospital stay found to be 10.8 days with a mortality rate of 2.1%. Referrals to hospitals outside Gaza Strip for a better management constituted 6.3% of all burn patients. The study results found a relationship between age and burn injury severity, a relationship between gender and depth of burn injury and between cause of burn injury and both patient's age and depth of burn injury. Conclusion: The groups at highest risk were children in general, toddlers and young adults. Most burns occurred at home. Prevention programs should target these high risk groups with an emphasis on the unique characteristics of each group. The results of the study highlighted the problem of burn injuries in Gaza Strip and provided database that can provide the decision makers with the base for establishing future prevention programs and stimulate further researches in the burn injury field.