A Population-Based Survey on the Incidence of Burn Injuries in Sivas-Turkey

Objective: A nation-wide or provincei wide Population-based survey for the determination of the burn incidence has not yet been performed in Turkey. The aim of this study was to determine the burn incidence, to describe and analyze the features of the burn trauma and burn victims. Material and Methods: Cluster sampling technique was used. The sample consisted of 8107 people in 34 clusters (24 urban, 10 rural), each having 53 households. Face to face interviews with the selected households were performed by the senior residents from the Plastic Surgery Department of Cumhuriyet University Hospital during the spring, summer and fall months in 2008. A detailed form was filled for the subjects who had a burn history. Information was sought on any burn injury deeper than first degree that had a surface area of at least 2 x 2 cm, and lasted more than one week to heal. Results: The annual burn incidence in Sivas province was found to be 3.70 per 1000 people (%95 CI: 2.35-5.05 per 1000). Burn incidence rate was higher among those aged <= 7 years than the others (p<0.001). Two thirds of burn injuries that occurred in the previous year, and 80% of the burns in the year before were caused by hot water or a hot liquid, mostly from a tea pot. Among the burn injuries 2.37% had a surface area of >= 20%. Conclusion: This study appears to be the first one that estimated the burn injury incidence and described some of its epidemiological characteristics for the whole population of a province in Turkey.