title: Incidence of burns and factors associated with their hospitalisation in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The burden of burns is largely underreported due to the lack of a surveillance system in Pakistan. The aim of our study was to determine the incidence of burns and factors associated with their hospitalisation in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study from July 2007 to June 2008 was conducted. All the burn-related injury patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) of the three public teaching hospitals in Rawalpindi city were included. A standard World Health Organization questionnaire was used to record the information about injury victims.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1498 burned patients presented to EDs. Females accounted for 40% of the patients. The majority of patients were ≤ 46 years. Most of the burns occurred at home (79.2%). The overall incidence of burn-related injuries per 100,000 inhabitants was 76.3 for emergency visits, 17.0 for hospitalisation and 0.3 for ED deaths. Female patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.49, 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=1.09, 2.06), intentional burns (aOR=5.25, 95% CI=2.17-12.74) and injuries at work (aOR=3.81, 95% CI=2.40, 6.07) and in a market area (aOR=2.25, 95% CI=1.36-3.74) were more likely to result in hospitalisation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rawalpindi city has a significant burden of burns. These results showed that investigating further factors leading to burns at home and work could be useful for future safety education campaigns. Moreover, continuous surveillance is warranted to decrease burns in Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: Surgical Unit I, Department of Surgery, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. dr_umar_farooq@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Umar
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Farooq
authors.forename: Muazzam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasrullah
authors.forename: Junaid Ahmad
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bhatti
authors.forename: Mudassir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Majeed
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanif
authors.forename: Jahangir Sarwar
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Muhammad Mussadiq
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult