Epidemiology of burns in Malaga, Spain.

The incidence of burns in the province of Malaga, Spain, was determined by means of a descriptive, cross-sectional, population-based study, and the individual, social and environmental conditions of the patients were analysed. Five hundred families (1846 persons), selected by a three-stage, stratified sampling, were interviewed in their homes. Five hundred and six burns were found in 406 persons (1.25 burns/person); 89.5 per cent of these were in an urban environment and 10.5 per cent in a rural environment. Eighteen and a half per cent of the sample had burnt themselves only once and 4.7 per cent more than once. The burns affected 23.3 per cent of the population, although the majority were of little clinical importance. The risk of burns is greater in the urban environment than in the rural environment, with burns occurring most often in the home (65.8 per cent), and especially in the kitchen. The most frequent burns involve hot liquids with special risk from cooking oil. The other burns (in the strict sense of the word, proper burns or true burns), were primarily caused by contact. The incidence was higher in women (33.0 vs. 21.1 per cent), with burns occurring mostly on the hands. Only 21.9 per cent of the burns received the correct first aid after the accident.

An epidemiological study of renal lithiasis in gypsies and others in Spain.

A comparative epidemiological study was done on renal lithiasis in gypsies and nongypsies in Eastern Andalucía, Spain. A family history of lithiasis in gypsies was obtained 2 to 3 times less often compared to nongypsies (1.14 versus 4.34 per cent). The male-to-female ratio of gypsies with lithiasis was 0.59 per cent compared to 1.54 per cent in others. The inverse ratio in gypsies contrasted with those obtained by various authors in western countries of white and black populations. There was a predominance of immediate family history of lithiasis in gypsies with stones (p less than 0.001, 11.81 per cent), which was not observed among nongypsies (p equals 0.80). The incidence of consanguineous marriage among gypsies was high (26.95 per cent) compared to others (4.07 per cent). There was a dependent relationship in gypsies between family history of lithiasis and consumption of meat products (p equals 0.001), dairy products and food rich in oxalic acid (p equals 0.05). In nongypsies these differences were less significant statistically and were nonexistent in the incidence of consumption of food containing oxalic acid. We ascribe the difference in the incidence of lithiasis between gypsies and other subjects principally to hereditary and dietary factors.