The epidemiology of burns in Indonesia’s national referral burn center from 2013 to 2015

Abstract

Introduction: Burn injury is one of the leading causes of disability and death, particularly in low and middle-income countries, yet the epidemiology of burn in Indonesia is rarely reported. We aim to obtain the sociodemographic characteristics of burn patients in Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital’s Burn Center. Methods: A cross sectional study design was used and the medical records of patients with burns admitted to the Burn Center of Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital between January 2013 and December 2015 were evaluated. Results: A total of 414 subjects were involved in this study. Of these, 284 (68.6%) subjects were >18 years old, while 130 (31.4%) were ≤18 years old. The highest proportion of admission was from the 1 to 4 years old age group. Since the pediatric population is not within the working-age population, most of the patients in the pediatric group (108 patients; 82.3%) did not have an occupation, making “Not Working” group as the most common occupational profile, while 82 (28.9%) of the adult population were laborers. Scald was the cause of burn in 66 (50.8%) subjects the pediatric group, whereas the burns in 201 (70.8%) adult subjects were caused by flame. Conclusion: We found that children below 5 years of age are at the highest risk of acquiring burns. Scald was the major cause of burns in the pediatric population, while flame was the main etiology in the adult group. Keywords: Burns, Epidemiology, Indonesia, National referral center