Epidemiology and mortality of hospitalized burn patients in Kohkiluye va Boyerahmad province (Iran): 2002–2004

The Kohkiluye va Boyerahmad province is located in the south of Iran. The population of the province is about 615,000, living in 14,261 km2. The total number of patients in the study was 235. There were admitted to the burn unit of Shahid Beheshti hospital (Yasuj) between 18 July 2002 and 17 July 2004. Of these patients, 149 (63.4%) were accidental and 86 (36.6%) were self-inflicted burns. The hospitalization rates for accidental and self-inflicted burns were 12.1 and 7.0 per 100,000 person-years, respectively. There is a significant difference in the sex ratio (males:females) between accidental (1.40) and suicidal (0.13) patient groups (P(2) < 0.00001). The fatality rates for accidental and self-inflicted burns were 2.1 and 59.5%, respectively. The mortality rates for accidental and self-inflicted burns were 0.24 and 3.81 per 100,000 person-years, respectively. The overall mean and median ages for accidental patients were 19.4 and 13 years, and those for self-inflicted burns were 24.9 and 23 years, respectively. In the accidental patients, the BSA of the burns ranged from 5 to 95%, with a median of 15%. In the self-inflicted patients, the median of BSA was 65%. The majority of accidental burns were caused by scalds (43.2%) and of self-inflicted burns by kerosene (87.5%). The median hospital stay was 8 days with a range of 1–43 days for accidental patients. The median hospital stay was 4 days with a range from <1 to 36 days for fatal self-burning patients. In non-fatal self-burning cases, the median hospital stay was 20 days with a range of 4–53 days. There is significant difference between fatal and non-fatal self-burning cases for hospital stay (P(2) < 0.0001). No definite correlation was found between the incidence of either accidental or self-inflicted burns and seasons (P(2) > 0.05). Most of the burns occurred at home.