Elsevier

Burns

Volume 34, Issue 7, November 2008, Pages 912-918
Burns

Consequences of childhood burn: Findings from the largest community-based injury survey in Bangladesh

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2008.05.002Get rights and content

Abstract

In terms of morbidity and disability, burn is a major public health problem throughout the world, especially in low-income countries. It causes long-term disability and remains as a health, social and economic burden. A population-based survey was conducted in Bangladesh between January and December 2003. Nationally representative data were collected from 171,366 rural and urban households comprising of a total 819,429 population, which included 351,651 children under 18 years of age. Mothers/head of households were interviewed with a structured instrument. The objective of this paper is to determine the consequences of childhood burn at social and economic levels in Bangladesh.

In the survey, 1013 children were found with different degrees of burn in the preceding 1 year. Among them 20 children were permanently disabled. The rate of permanent disability was found to be 5.7 per 100,000. The average loss of school days was found to be about 21 days. More than two-thirds of the burn victims required assistance in their daily activities for different durations of time. More than 7% of the children required hospitalisation for their burns. The rate of hospitalisation was 21.9 per 100,000; the average duration of hospital stay was 13.4 days. The highest duration (40 days) of hospital stay was found among girls 10–14 years old. The highest expenditure for the treatment was also found in this age group. The average direct expenditure incurred by a family for treatment of severe burn was determined to be $462. In this study it was found that more than 61% of the families earn less than $50 a month.

Burn is a devastating injury among all childhood injuries with significant additional economic consequences beyond the medical, pain, and suffering issues. Developing a national prevention program should be an immediate public health priority.

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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