A profile of hospital-admitted paediatric burns patients in South Africa
Date
2010-06
Authors
Parbhoo, Asha
Louw, Quinette A.
Grimmer-Somers, Karen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Research Notes
Abstract
Background: Injuries and deaths from burns are a serious, yet preventable health problem globally. This paper
describes burns in a cohort of children admitted to the Red Cross Children's Hospital, in Cape Town, South Africa.
This six month retrospective case note review looked at a sample of consecutively admitted patients from the 1 st April
2007 to the 30 th September 2007. Information was collected using a project-specific data capture sheet. Descriptive
statistics (percentages, medians, means and standard deviations) were calculated, and data was compared between
age groups. Spearman's correlation co-efficient was employed to look at the association between the total body
surface area and the length of stay in hospital.
Findings: During the study period, 294 children were admitted (f= 115 (39.1%), m= 179 (60.9%)). Hot liquids caused
83.0% of the burns and 36.0% of these occurred in children aged two years or younger. Children over the age of five
were equally susceptible to hot liquid burns, but the mechanism differed from that which caused burns in the younger
child.
Conclusion: In South Africa, most hospitalised burnt children came from informal settlements where home safety is a
low priority. Black babies and toddlers are most at risk for sustaining severe burns when their environment is
disorganized with respect to safety. Burns injuries can be prevented by improving the home environment and socioeconomic
living conditions through the health, social welfare, education and housing departments.
Description
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/165
The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/165
Keywords
Burns and scalds in children -- South Africa -- Cape Town, Children -- Hospital care -- South Africa -- Cape Town
Citation
Parbhoo, A., Louw, Q.A. & Grimmer-Sommers, K. 2010. A profile of hospital-admitted paediatric burns patients in South Africa. BMC Research Notes, 3:165, doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-3-165.