Epidemiologic Evaluation of Patients with Major Burns and Recommendations for Fighting with Burns

Objective: Burns are an important health problem in our country and in the world. In our study, we aimed to epidemiologically analyze the patients who were hospitalized in the burn unit serving 3 million individuals in Middle Anatolia.
Material and Method: Records of 457 patients who had been hospitalized in burn unit between 2008-2010 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were asseseed in terms of gender, age, burn area, burn depth, admission time to the health center, burn region, factors causing burns.
Results: Majority (44.6%) of the patients was in 0-5 age group. Burn surface area was detected as 11.6±8.5%. Patients had reached health center in 252.8±892.5 minutes. While 82.7% of the patients had 2. degree of burns, 17.3% had 3. degree of burns. Most burns were on extremities (39.6%). The most common burn agent was scalds with hot liquids (54.1%).
Conclusion: In our study, children in 0-5 age group was found to be the most commonly affected group from indoor burns. Basic factor for this is children’s spending more time in the house and being more active. Scalding burns may be prevented by taking care when using hot liquids that may lead to indoor burns. Informing parents is of first priority for this issue.