Citation

Gyedu A, Stewart B, Mock C, Otupiri E, Nakua E, Donkor P, Ebel BE. Burns 2015; 42(3): 633-638.

Affiliation

Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA; Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Wash, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.burns.2015.11.004

PMID

26691868

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Childhood burns are a leading cause of injury in low- and middle-income countries; most of which are preventable. We aimed to describe the prevalence of household risk factors for childhood burn injury (CBI) in semi-urban Ghana to inform prevention strategies for this growing population.

METHODS: We conducted a population-based survey of 200 households in a semi-urban community in Ghana. Households were randomly selected from a list of 6520 households with children aged <18 years. Caregivers were interviewed about CBI within the past 6 months and potentially modifiable household risk factors.

RESULTS: Of 6520 households, 3856 used charcoal for cooking (59%) and 3267 cooked indoors (50%). In 4544 households (70%), the stove/cooking surface was within reach of children under-five (i.e., <1m). Higher household wealth quintiles (OR 0.95; 95%CI 0.61-1.49) and increasing age (OR 0.82; 95%CI 0.68-0.99) were associated with lower odds of CBI. Living in uncompleted accommodation (OR 11.29; 95%CI 1.48-86.18 vs rented room) and cooking outside the house (OR 1.13; 95%CI 0.60-2.14 vs cooking indoors) were also predictive of CBI.

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a high prevalence of CBI risk factors in semi-urban households that may benefit from targeted community-based prevention initiatives.

Language: en