title: Long-term trends in mortality according to age among adult burn patients.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in mortality among adult burn patients over a 25-year period according to age. All patients admitted to a regional burn center between 1973 and 1997 were divided into three age groups (18-34, 35-54, and 55 and older), and mortality rates were compared over time. Between 1973 and 1997, the proportion of patients in each age group remained consistent, as did the type of burns. The average total body surface area burned declined steadily from 31.6% in the 1970s to 18.2% in the late 1990s. The absolute change in mortality was small (7.7%), moderate (16.3%), and large (30.2%) in the young, middle-aged, and old, respectively. However, the relative change demonstrated the opposite pattern. The results of this study suggest that declines in mortality among adult burn patients have occurred across the age spectrum over the past 25 years.
authors.affiliation: Section of Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care, Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0016, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McGwin
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cross
authors.forename: Jeremy W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Loring W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Rue
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002056:Burns / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices