<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Background: Burns are a major public health problem. They often require intensive care and long periods of hospitalization. In Tehran, about 5% of all hospitalized injuries are burns. There are no published long-term epidemiological studies regarding burn injuries of adults in Iran. Objective: To identify risk factors for burn injuries and provide a starting point for the establishment of an effective prevention plan. Methods: We analyzed the demographic, etiological, and clinical data of 1860 burn patients admitted to a major acute care hospital in Tehran between March 2010 and April 2011. Data were obtained from the registry recorded in Shahid Motahari Trauma Hospital and evaluated using a chi-square test. Results: Males were more than twice as likely to be burn patients than females (72.0% vs. 28.0%). Second and third-degree burns with a body surface area of 21%-30% constituted the highest injury reported (75.3%). The most common causes of the recorded burns were natural gas, gasoline (42%) and open fire (10.2%). Unintentional burns were reported in 85% of the cases, and 15% of the burn victims were suicide-related incidents; mainly among women. In 75% of suicide attempts, women set themselves on fire to commit suicide. The mean duration of hospitalization was 25 days and the mortality rate was 10.7%. Mean age of reported deaths was 38.6 years; with a mean of 30 years among women and 51.5 years among men. Conclusion: The group at highest risk was young men 21-30 years old. However, an astonishing finding was that 75% of suicidal-related incidents involved women setting themselves on fire. Those with the highest mortality rate were victims of burns with gas, gasoline, and kerosene; with a mean age of 30 years of death among women.</abstract>

Background: Burns are a major public health problem. They often require intensive care and long periods of hospitalization. In Tehran, about 5% of all hospitalized injuries are burns. There are no published long-term epidemiological studies regarding burn injuries of adults in Iran. Objective: To identify risk factors for burn injuries and provide a starting point for the establishment of an effective prevention plan. Methods: We analyzed the demographic, etiological, and clinical data of 1860 burn patients admitted to a major acute care hospital in Tehran between March 2010 and April 2011. Data were obtained from the registry recorded in Shahid Motahari Trauma Hospital and evaluated using a chi-square test. Results: Males were more than twice as likely to be burn patients than females (72.0% vs. 28.0%). Second and third-degree burns with a body surface area of 21%-30% constituted the highest injury reported (75.3%). The most common causes of the recorded burns were natural gas, gasoline (42%) and open fire (10.2%). Unintentional burns were reported in 85% of the cases, and 15% of the burn victims were suicide-related incidents; mainly among women. In 75% of suicide attempts, women set themselves on fire to commit suicide. The mean duration of hospitalization was 25 days and the mortality rate was 10.7%. Mean age of reported deaths was 38.6 years; with a mean of 30 years among women and 51.5 years among men. Conclusion: The group at highest risk was young men 21-30 years old. However, an astonishing finding was that 75% of suicidal-related incidents involved women setting themselves on fire. Those with the highest mortality rate were victims of burns with gas, gasoline, and kerosene; with a mean age of 30 years of death among women.

Burns in Tehran: demographic, etiological, and clinical trends

Burn Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran 14155-6559,

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71345-1583,

Asian Biomedicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Burns in Tehran: demographic, etiological, and clinical trends"}

Background: Burns are a major public health problem. They often require intensive care and long periods of hospitalization. In Tehran, about 5% of all...

Burns in Tehran: demographic, etiological, and clinical trends

Article Category: Brief communication (Original)

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 241 - 245

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0802.285

Keywords
Burns, demographic data, etiology, hospitalization, Iran, morbidity, mortality, Tehran

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Burns in Tehran: demographic, etiological, and clinical trends

Article Category: Brief communication (Original)

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 241 - 245

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0802.285

KeywordsBurns, demographic data, etiology, hospitalization, Iran, morbidity, mortality, Tehran

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Burns, demographic data, etiology, hospitalization, Iran, morbidity, mortality, Tehran