title: Risk factors for burns in children: crowding, poverty, and poor maternal education.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the presentation of burns in children and risk factors associated with their occurrence in a developing country as a basis for future prevention programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Burn unit of the National Institute of Child Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño) in Lima, Peru.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was administered to all consenting guardians of children admitted to the burns (cases) and general medicine (controls) units during a period of 14 months. Guardians of patients were questioned regarding etiology of the injury, demographic and socioeconomic data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  740 cases and controls were enrolled. Altogether 77.5% of the cases burns occurred in the patient's home, with 67.8% in the kitchen; 74% were due to scalding. Most involved children younger than 5 years. Lack of water supply (odds ratio (OR) 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1 to 1 2.3), low income (OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.9), and crowding (OR 2.5, 95%CI 1.7 to 3.6) were associated with an increased risk. The presence of a living room (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.8) and better maternal education (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9) were protective factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To prevent burns interventions should be directed to low socioeconomic status groups; these interventions should be designed accordingly to local risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Benefit Association PRISMA (Projects in Informatics, Medicine, Health and Agriculture), Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Cardich
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Gilman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lavarello
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dahodwala
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bazán
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Cama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lescano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003441:Crowding; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D010568:Peru / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population