Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of older adults with burns: a 15-year retrospective analysis of 2554 cases in Wuhan Institute of Burns

BACKGROUND: With the increase of geriatric burns, it’s urgent to summarize its characteristics. The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of older adults with burns in a large center, and to provide suggestions for the prevention and treatment of geriatric burns. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at Wuhan Institute of Burns which is the largest burn center in central China between 2004 to 2018. Demographic and clinical data of the 60 years or above older burn inpatients were collected from medical records, analyzed and compared among groups. RESULTS: This study analyzed 2554 elderly burns, which included 50.9% in young geriatric group (60–69 years old), 32.9% in middle geriatric group (70–79 years old) and 16.2% in the oldest geriatric group (80 years old or above). The most common causes of elderly burns were flames (1081, 42.3%) and scalding (1041, 40.8%). Elderly burns with total body surface area (TBSA) of 0–9% accounted for 60.6% and the larger TBSA, the fewer number of patients. The majority of patients (70.5%) injured at home.The median of time interval from injury to admission was 7 h and the oldest geriatric group (24 h) was highest. One hundred and twenty-one cases (8.5%) were treated by cooling treatment, and 72.7% of these patients were treated less than 10 min. The median number of pre-injury diseases was one. Ninety patients (6.3%) had inhalation injury.The median length of stay (LOS) was 14 days.The median hospital cost was 10,410 CNY or 2137 CNY per % TBSA, which was correlated with TBSA, LOS, surgery, inhalation injury, number of pre-injury diseases and etiology. The mortality rate was 3.0% and correlated with TBSA, inhalation injury, pulmonary disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The lethal area 50% (LA(50)) for total admitted elderly burns was 78.3% TBSA (95% confidence interval [CI] = 69.8 ~ 89.9% TBSA). CONCLUSION: Geriatric burns was still common and even increasing in central China, with flame burns and scalds the most common causes, majority of whom injured at home and often had problems such as few cooling treatment, improper emergency management and delayed admission. TBSA, etiology, pre-injury diseases and inhalation injury were the risk factors of length of stay, hospital cost and treatment outcomes.