Risk factors for burns in children: crowding, poverty, and poor maternal education.
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.
Delgado
J
J
Benefit Association PRISMA (Projects in Informatics, Medicine, Health and Agriculture), Lima, Peru.
Ramírez-Cardich
M E
ME
Gilman
R H
RH
Lavarello
R
R
Dahodwala
N
N
Bazán
A
A
Rodríguez
V
V
Cama
R I
RI
Tovar
M
M
Lescano
A
A
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