Prevalence and Treatment Outcome of Burn Injury among Pediatric Patients Attending Pediatric Emergency OPD of Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia

Wegene Jemebere Biru; Fikru Tadesse Mekonnen

doi:10.37591/rrjocb.v7i3.515

Abstract

Background: Burn injury is one of the most common and devastating forms of trauma and a major health problem of pediatric morbidity and mortality worldwide resulting in substantial physical, psychological and economic loss. Burn-related injuries are a significant burden in children, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where more than 90% of burn-related pediatric deaths occur [1]. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and treatment outcome of burn injury among pediatric patients attended pediatric emergency OPD of Hawassa University comprehensive specialized hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia.Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from May 01 to Jun 30, 2018 on a sample of 395 patient medical records who were treated from burn injury for five consecutive years from September 2012 to September 2017. The patient records were selected using systematic random sampling and pretested structured checklist was used to collect the data. Data entry was done using EPI Info 3.5.4 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 software package for analysis. Results: In this study, the five years’ prevalence of burn injury among pediatric patients attended at emergency OPD of Hawassa University comprehensive specialized hospital was 9.79% (95% CI: 5.9–13.7). Majority (62.5%) of burn injury affected children aged 0–5 years and the prevalence of burn injury decrease as the pediatric age increase in this study. Almost all burn injury occurred at home (97%), accidental (94.2%) and the most common cause was scald (59.7%). More than half (56.7%) of the children suffered from second degree burn. About 10–20% burned total body surface area was common and faced by 47.1% children. Almost two-third (74.4%) of the victims recovered without complication and six of them died. Conclusion: The prevalence of burn injury among pediatrics was high relative to other findings. Keywords: Prevalence, burn injury, pediatrics, EthiopiaCite this ArticleWegene Jemebere, Fikiru Tadesse. Prevalence and treatment outcome of burn injury among pediatric patients attending pediatric emergency OPD of Hawassa University comprehensive specialized hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. Research & Reviews: Journal of Computational Biology. 2018; 7(3): 8–15p