Etiology and Outcome of Burns in Hamadan, Iran: A Registry‑based Study

Background: Burn prevention strategies are most effective when they are based on knowledge of etiological patterns of burn injuries and considering the geographical variations and socioeconomic differences in burn epidemiology. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the etiology and outcome of burns in Hamadan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This registry‑based, cross‑sectional study was conducted on 798 burn patients admitted to the Besat Hospital from March 2013 to February 2018. The medical records of all the patients were extracted from hospital information system. Results: In males, the most common cause of burn was gas explosion (41.4%), whereas in females, the most common cause was hot liquids (37.1%). In below 5 years and 6–15 years age group, burning with hot liquids was the common cause of burn, whereas in other age groups, gas explosion was the common cause of burn. In the present study, 6.9% of the patients died because of their burns. With increasing age, the odds of death increases, so that patients between 30 and 59 years had 2.2 fold (P = 0.02) and patients ≥60 years had 3.5 fold (P = 0.006) higher odds of death compared to patients aged <30 years. Conclusion: Findings of the present study show that males and people aged 26–40 years and children 0–5 years were at a greater risk of burns. Furthermore, this study shows that self‑immolation with a high rate of case fatality should be considered as a mental health challenge, and it is necessary to design preventive strategies to reduce it.