87 Identification of Critical Burn Knowledge Gaps within the USA Population: A Survey and Education on Burn Prevention and Preparedness

Abstract

Introduction Associations, institutions, and providers have made enormous efforts to educate the United States public on burn injury in the hopes of preventing burns. However, there are no reports to-date describing the level of public burn knowledge in the U.S. This study characterized the public knowledge of burn prevention and preparedness in the US. It also aimed to assess if our interactive quiz is an appropriate educational tool. Methods QualtricsTM surveys designed to test knowledge and educate about burns were crowdsourced to laypersons via Amazon MTurk. Demographics were self-reported. In section 1, respondents were presented six questions asking about causes and care for burns, in a quiz style with explanations provided immediately. In section 2, respondents self-reported personal experiences with burns, burn education, and knowledge of verified burn centers. In section 3, they reported attitudes towards burn care. Survey responses were analyzed using two-tailed Student’s t tests and chi square analyses. Results We received 402 completed survey responses, and 331 total were included for analysis; studies were excluded if they were completed in < 5 minutes or had incorrect attention check questions. The mean age was 39.4 ± 12.08, and 51% male. 1. Knowledge: The average quiz score was 51% ± 8; while 65% of respondents knew to run scald burns under cool water, only 41% knew the optimal time of more than 20 minutes. The majority of respondents (92%) reported the quiz improved their burn knowledge. Also, while majority (63%) of respondents had heard of verified burn centers, only 44% knew where the closest one was. 2. Experiences: 72% of respondents had personally experienced a burn, of which 62% were treated in the emergency room. 57% of respondents had witnessed a burn injury occur, of which 92% applied first aid using cool running water (26%), ice (18%), burn gel (17%), and gauze (11%). Only 61% of respondents have participated in burn precautions at home. 56% of respondents have received formal burn training, such as from CPR class (21.4%) and recent first aid training (32.9%). Informal sources include from friends and family (66%), personal burn experience (63%), or social media (47.4%). 3. Attitudes: The majority of respondents agreed there should be more public education on risks/prevention (85%) and treatment of burns (78.6%). Only 63% believe acute burn care should be covered by insurance. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that despite personal experiences with burns and formalized courses, there remain gaps in public burn knowledge in the US. Further studies are required to characterize more detailed knowledge gaps and intervention strategies.