The Study of Preliminary Epidemiology for Burn Prevention

ABSTRACT

Burn injury is a common problem in our usual life, but many people don't still realize the physical, psychological and social effects of the burn patients. The purpose of this study is to find out what are the characteristics of burn patients and what are the risk factors for burns in order to prepare the specific prevention strategies in the future. In this study, data on 279 burn patients treated between October 2001 and December 2001 were analyzed. The typical burn victims of inpatients were young adults. They were mostly workers in production Dept. of the factory and residents of small and medium city. They were burn injured at work place just after the lunch break or before dawn, and due to flames with 30 - 70% burned body surface. They were working with their colleagues at that time. In case of outpatients, the typical burn victims were infants or toddlers. They were mostly middle or higher socioeconomic status in urban area, Seoul. They were burn injured in the kitchen during the dining time. They were burn injured due to scalds with less than 10% burned body surface and they were with their parents at that time. Epidemiological studies on burn patients should be performed continuously to prevent burn causes. For the burn prevention, it is necessary for implementing prevention strategies according to different subjects and need media campaigns for increasing public awareness on burn injuries.