Knowledge and Attitudes in First Aid Practices for Thermal Burns: a Cross-sectional Study Among Adults in Northern Greece

BACKGROUND: Burns are a major cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalization, disfigurement, disability, and emotional trauma. Long-term absence from work and high healthcare costs for burn treatment have a significant socio-economic impact. OBJECTIVE: his study aims to evaluate the level of knowledge for burn management in the adult population of Thrace in Northern Greece and to determine factors associated with a better level of knowledge. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted οn a random sample of the adult population of Thrace. Data were collected using a structured pre-coded questionnaire, which included subjects’ socio-demographic characteristics and the first aid practices for burns. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effect of subjects’ characteristics on their knowledge of burn first aid practices. RESULTS: A total of 711 subjects (49.6% males; mean age, 41.89±16.48 years) were included in the study. The incidence of a previous burn was 55.4%. Only 10.5% of the subjects would apply the optimal practice, consisting of rinsing the burn wound with cool running water for at least 10 minutes, applying only non-adhesive dressing on it and leaving the blisters intact. The optimal practice was independently associated with female gender (aOR=1.86, p=0.016), high education level (aOR=2.00, p=0.023), the presence of >3 children (aOR=2.27, p=0.009) and previous training in first aid (aOR=2.36, p=0.001). A large number of participants reported the application of toothpaste (38%), moisturizer (35.4%), aloe (31.8%) or yogurt (27.7%) to the burn surface. CONCLUSION: Only a small proportion of the participants were aware of the optimal burn first aid practices, most of them female, of high socioeconomic status. We recommend a more targeted approach in the design of health campaigns in the future, in order to reach vulnerable parts of the population.