Epidemiology of burn injuries in Nepal: a systemic review

Abstract

Burn is a global public health problem associated with significant morbidity and mortality, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Southeast-Asian countries share a big burden of burn injuries, and Nepal is not an exception. We performed a systemic review to examine the epidemiological characteristics of burn injures in Nepal. Relevant epidemiological studies were identified through systemic search in PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. Reference lists from relevant review articles were also searched. Studies were included if they meet our selection criteria. Eight studies were included in our systemic review. Most of the burn victims belong to the working age group between 15–60 years old. Flame burns were found to be the most common cause of burn injury followed by scald burns, whereas scald burns were the most common cause of burn injury among the pediatric population. Most patients sustained less severe burn injuries, with home being the most common place of burn injury. The average hospital stay among the burn victims ranged from 13 to 60 days. Mortality among the burn victims ranged from 4.5 to 23.5%, with highest mortality among the flame burn patients. Developed nations have significantly reduced the burn incidence through effective intervention program. Although, burn injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Nepal, effective intervention programs are lacking due to the limited epidemiological data related to burn injuries. Further large scale research is imperative to investigate the problem and assess the effectiveness of an intervention program.

Burns in Nepal: a participatory, community survey of burn cases and knowledge, attitudes and practices to burn care and prevention in three rural municipalities

“…Our data suggest that the key areas for prevention would be cooking within the home setting, particularly for women and children. These data are supported by previous studies included in a systematic review 7. These authors reported that five out of the eight studies reviewed found more burns in women than men, and the most common location for a burn to occur was inside the house, mostly in the kitchen.…”

“…Mongolia has a particularly high rate of child burn injury as identified by The Global Burden of Disease study in 20135; detailed community studies, conducted in Ulaanbaatar, have supported this finding and shown that 27% (n=247/900) had a history of burn injury 6. A recent systematic review7 found eight epidemiological studies based in Nepal and concluded that burn injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country. The study authors report mortality rates from 4.5% to 23.5% and conclude that the limited data explain the lack of effective intervention programmes in the area.…”

“…The study authors conclude that the demographics and aetiology of burns at a population level vary significantly from hospital level data. Tripathee and Basnet,7 in their systematic review, stress the importance of epidemiological data as a pre-requisite for planning and implementing prevention programmes at the community level.…”

Epidemiological analysis of patients with burns in third‐line hospitals in Turkey

“…In some studies, the most common cause of burns was electric shock, 15 while in others it was reported as flame burns 12 and in others such as our study, it was reported as a scald burns. 5,13,16,17 In studies where child burns were examined, burns were reported…”

Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of severe burn patients: results of a retrospective multicenter study in China, 2011–2015

“…Burns of < 20% TBSA do not represent a large proportion of severe burns. This trend reflects the strict admission criteria at many institutions [ 7 , 21 ]. Large-area burns mainly occur in working-age adults.…”