Epidemiology of Burns in Patients Aged 0 – 13 Years at a Paediatric Hospital in Kenya

Abstract

Background: Burns are a common and significant cause of admission following injury in children.

Methods: This was a retrospective hospital based multivariate survey conducted on burns patients aged 0 to 13 years over a five year period 2003 to 2007. It was conducted at a paediatric hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. During this period there were 1,052 patients admitted due to injury of which 202 (19.2%) had suffered a burns injury. Epidemiological data from the 202 patients was collected and analyzed.

Results: The age range was 5 months to 13 years. The mean age was 3.4 years. 84.6% were in the age group 0 – 5 years. Males made up 59.7% giving a male to female ratio was 1.65:1. The main cause of burns was scalds with hot fluids accounting for 84.2%. Of the scalds, 175 (87.1%) took place at home. Unintentional burns accounted for the majority at 198 (98.5%). The majority of the patients [124, n= 176, 70.5%] had burns of Total Burnt Surface Area of less than 10%.

Conclusion: Our results were similar to other studies in literature especially from developing countries for burns in the paediatric age group. Prevention is the key.

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