TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Risk factors for burns in children: crowding, poverty, and poor maternal education
JO  - Injury prevention
A1  - Lescano, A.
A1  - Tovar, M.
A1  - Cama, R. I.
A1  - Rodriguez, V.
A1  - Bazan, A.
A1  - Dahodwala, N.
A1  - Lavarello, R.
A1  - Gilman, Robert H.
A1  - Ramirez-Cardich, M. E.
A1  - Delgado, Joao H.
SP  - 38
EP  - 41
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the presentation of burns in children and risk factors associated with their occurrence in a developing country as a basis for future prevention programs. DESIGN: Case-control study. Setting: Burn unit of the National Institute of Child Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud del Nino) in Lima, Peru. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to all consenting guardians of children admitted to the burns (cases) and general medicine (controls) units during a period of 14 months. Guardians of patients were questioned regarding etiology of the injury, demographic and socioeconomic data. RESULTS: 740 cases and controls were enrolled. Altogether 77.5% of the cases burns occurred in the patient's home, with 67.8% in the kitchen; 74% were due to scalding. Most involved children younger than 5 years. Lack of water supply (odds ratio (OR) 5.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1 to 1 2.3), low income (OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.9), and crowding (OR 2.5, 95%CI 1.7 to 3.6) were associated with an increased risk. The presence of a living room (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.8) and better maternal education (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9) were protective factors. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent burns interventions should be directed to low socioeconomic status groups; these interventions should be designed accordingly to local risk factors.
LA  - en
SN  - 1353-8047
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -