title: Epidemiology of burns presenting to an emergency department in Shiraz, South Iran.
abstract: A retrospective study of 1493 burn patients attending the Ghotbeddin emergency burn center in Shiraz, South Iran during the 1 year period 2001-2002 was undertaken in order to describe the epidemiological features of burns in Shiraz. The following results were obtained: the mean age of attendees was 21.84+/-19.05 with an overall male to female ratio of 1.12. 41.2% of patients were children under 15 years with a M/F ratio of 1.36. The main causes of burns were scalds (53%) followed by flame (25%). The frequency of scalds was much higher among children (70%). The majority of accidents (81%) occurred at home, 5.2% occurred in workplace and domestic accidents were more frequent among women. The mean total body surface area (TBSA) burned was 7.4+/-14.3%. Extensive TBSA had a significant association with flame burns and sex, showing that female patients have higher risk for more extensive burns. Finally, there was a significant seasonal variation for burns, with most burns occurring in winter months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ansari-Lari
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Askarian
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001830:Body Surface Area; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution