RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Risk factors for burns in children: crowding, poverty, and poor maternal education
JF Injury Prevention
JO Inj Prev
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 38
OP 41
DO 10.1136/ip.8.1.38
VO 8
IS 1
A1 Delgado, J
A1 Ramírez-Cardich, M E
A1 Gilman, R H
A1 Lavarello, R
A1 Dahodwala, N
A1 Bazán, A
A1 Rodríguez, V
A1 Cama, R I
A1 Tovar, M
A1 Lescano, A
YR 2002
UL http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/8/1/38.abstract
AB Objective: To characterize the presentation of burns in children and risk factors associated with their occurrence in a developing country as a basis for future prevention programs. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Burn unit of the National Institute of Child Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño) in Lima, Peru. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to all consenting guardians of children admitted to the burns (cases) and general medicine (controls) units during a period of 14 months. Guardians of patients were questioned regarding etiology of the injury, demographic and socioeconomic data. Results: 740 cases and controls were enrolled. Altogether 77.5% of the cases burns occurred in the patient's home, with 67.8% in the kitchen; 74% were due to scalding. Most involved children younger than 5 years. Lack of water supply (odds ratio (OR) 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1 to 12.3), low income (OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.9), and crowding (OR 2.5, 95%CI 1.7 to 3.6) were associated with an increased risk. The presence of a living room (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.8) and better maternal education (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9) were protective factors. Conclusions: To prevent burns interventions should be directed to low socioeconomic status groups; these interventions should be designed accordingly to local risk factors.