Epidemiological characteristics of paediatric burn patients in China from 2016 to 2019: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological characteristics of paediatric burn can help to protect children from burn injuries. Most of the previous studies have been conducted on small scale and single centre in China. This study analysed the epidemiological characteristics of paediatric burn using a large-scale and multicentre database from 23 children’s hospitals in China to increase child protection against burn injuries, improve the quality of care and reduce hospitalisation costs. METHODS: Excerpted information from medical records of 6741 paediatric burn cases was extracted from the Futang Research Center of Pediatric Development database from 2016 to 2019. The epidemiological characteristics of patients, including gender, age, cause of burn injuries, complication, the timing of hospitalisation (season and month) and hospitalisation length and cost, were collected. RESULTS: Male gender (63.23%), aged 1–2 years (69.95%), and hydrothermal scald (80.57%) were significantly dominant among cases. Furthermore, complications were significantly different among groups with different age of patients. Pneumonia was the most common complication (21%). Meanwhile, most paediatric burn occurred in spring (26.73%), and hospitalisation length and cost significantly depended on the cause of the burn injuries and surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale epidemiological study of paediatric burn in China revealed that boys aged 1–2 years with higher activity and lack of self-awareness are more likely to suffer from burn injuries by hydrothermal scald. In addition, complications, especially pneumonia, need attention and early prevention in paediatric burn.