Consequences of childhood burn: Findings from the largest community-based injury survey in Bangladesh
Section snippets
Introduction and background
In terms of morbidity and long-term disability, burn is a major public health issue throughout the world, especially in developing countries [1]. Annually 238,000 deaths occurred globally due to fire-related burns, and the great majority (95%) of these occurred in low and middle-income countries [2]. Even in developed countries injuries from burns represent the leading cause of unintentional injury mortality and morbidity [3], [4], [5], [6].
Children are the most vulnerable group of burn victims
Study design
Cross-sectional study.
Study population
The study was carried out during 2003 (January to December) in 12 randomly selected districts of Bangladesh and in Dhaka Metropolitan City. This encompassed a population of 819,429 including 351,651 children under 18 years of age.
Multi-stage cluster sampling was used to choose a total sample size of 171,366 households; 88,380 from rural areas, 45,183 from district towns (urban areas) and 37,803 households from Dhaka Metropolitan City. Twelve out of 64 districts were
Results
A total of 1013 children were found to have suffered from burns. Two children had died due to burns. The rates of fatal and non-fatal burns in children were 0.6 per 100,000 children-year and 288.1 per 100,000 children-year, respectively. Among the total children with non-fatal burns 56.7% were boys and 43.3% were girls. The median age of having non-fatal burn was 3 years, and mean age was 4.75 (S.D. ±3.94) years. The highest proportion (57%) of non-fatal burn was found among children 1–4 years
Discussion
Childhood burn was found as a major cause of loss of school days, loss of workdays, physical impairments, hospitalisation and medical expenses in Bangladesh. Disfigurements associated with burns of young children will have major effects on their lives as adults, especially when it occurs to young girls. This study found childhood burn to be a major cause of permanent disabilities. It was estimated that 3400 children become permanently disabled every year in Bangladesh. Higher rates of permanent
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