Outpatient treated burns in infants younger than 1 year in Helsinki during 2005–2009

Incidence and risk factors of burn injuries among infants, Finland 1990–2010

“…Earlier, scalds have been the most common source of infant burn injuries [3,13,16,18,21,22]. We have showed earlier that prevalence of burns in infants less than 1 year is 15%, and an increase has occurred in the admission rates [2]. In the current study, we verified that preliminary clinical notion; [2,3] the number of burn victims less than 1 year of age has indeed increased in Finland in general, even though the number of inpatients has decreased.…”

“…Our previous work on inhospital-treated burn victims aged less than 1 year from a single center revealed that girls outnumbered boys by 1.5 to 1 [1], and in the present report we confirmed that this phenomenon is national and characteristic of Finland. Burn injuries in this age cohort take place while the infant is held in the arms of a caregiver who at the same time is holding a hot item, such as cup of tea or coffee [1,2]. We infer that girls may be held more often during daily chores, thus maybe adding to girls' burn incidence.…”

The long-term health-related quality of life in children treated for burns as infants 5–9 years earlier

“…Cognizant mobilization develops literally step-by-step; first by creeping and crawling, later aspiring to an upright position by standing, and finally walking. Children's natural curiosity and urge to explore their environment sets them at risk for injuries in general, and burns in particular [18,24,25,35]. The proportion of burn patients less than 1 year of age, is 18% of all the burn victims at the Children's Hospital in Helsinki, and on a national scale the number of burned children aged less than 1 year has increased during recent years [24,25].…”

“…Children's natural curiosity and urge to explore their environment sets them at risk for injuries in general, and burns in particular [18,24,25,35]. The proportion of burn patients less than 1 year of age, is 18% of all the burn victims at the Children's Hospital in Helsinki, and on a national scale the number of burned children aged less than 1 year has increased during recent years [24,25]. The American Burn Association database, which presents the 10-year cumulative experience from several burn centers, shows that the number of burns in children under 1 year seen at hospitals has increased.…”

“…Altogether, 126 consecutive patients met the inclusion criteria. Detailed demographic data of these 126 patients have been reported in two previous articles [24,25]. Table 1 illustrates the demographic and injury related data of these children.…”