title: Severity of burn and its related factors: A study from the developing country Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burns are leading cause of fatal injuries and major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The major obstacle in controlling severity is factors related to burn. This study determines frequency of burns and the factors related to it in Karachi, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted and 384 hospitalized adult patients with burns were consecutively interviewed during August 2013 to February 2014. Information was collected on socio-demographic profile, intent of burn, severity of burn, health hazards, physical and psychological characteristics. TBSA burn of >15% was considered as higher severity of burn.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher severity of burns was found in 76.3% patients. Multivariate analysis showed that higher severity of burns were significantly associated with age less than 25 years (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.5-4.9), never had been to school (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.7-5.9) and intentional burn (OR 20.6, 95% CI 5.0-84.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Majority of patients had higher severity of burn. The intent of injury was intentional, age less than 25 years and no schooling were found significantly associated with higher severity of burns.
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Gulzar-e-Hijri, Ojha Campus,Suparco Road, KDA Scheme-33, Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address: s.omair.adil@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Syed Omair
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Adil
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Gulzar-e-Hijri, Ojha Campus,Suparco Road, KDA Scheme-33, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nighat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nisar
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Gulzar-e-Hijri, Ojha Campus,Suparco Road, KDA Scheme-33, Karachi, Pakistan; Burns Centre, Civil Hospital Karachi Baba-e-Urdu Road, Off M.A. Jinnah Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.lastname: Ehmer-Al-Ibran
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Gulzar-e-Hijri, Ojha Campus,Suparco Road, KDA Scheme-33, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Kashif
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shafique
authors.affiliation: The Indus Hospital Research Center, Landhi Local Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baig-Ansari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burns; Hospitalized patient; Pakistan; Risk factors leading to burn