Retrospective Study on Prevalence of Burn Injury among Children at St Francis Referral Hospital Morogoro Tanzania

Abstract

Introduction: Burn is an injury resulting from extreme temperature, chemicals or electricity. Fire-related burns are the most cause of death for children. Infants are at high risk consisting a global rate ranging from 3.0 to 4.9 deaths per 100 000 population. Methodology: The study involved children aged between 2 to 9 years who were admitted due to burn injuries from January 2014 to December 2018. The hospital based study was conducted and data were collected by using medical records. Results: The totals of 9125 were admitted during the period and surgical conditions accounted about 12% of total pediatric admissions. Among these 291 were enrolled with M: F 1.8:1. Scald was the common cause of burn in this population 213 (73%), children of 2yeas were the most affected group by 32.3% (94) and the mortality rate was 1.7%. Conclusion: Majority of childhood burn injuries at this hospital are scald and most affected children with two years of age which give a needs of community based education of children and infant protection from burn injury.