Trends in patients aged 80 years or older with burns requiring hospitalization.

Abstract

Purpose: The average life expectancy in Japan is 81.47 years for males and 87.57 years for females, which is expected to increase, and this has led to an increase in the number of patients aged ≥80 years with burns requiring hospitalization. Herein, we investigated the factors that affect the survival and length of hospital stay of patients aged ≥80 years with burns requiring hospitalization.

Major findings: The participants were patients admitted to our facility between 1 January 2008, and 31 December 2018. Deceased patients had significantly higher burn index, prognostic burn index, total body surface area, and revised Baux score, indicating the severity of burns; moreover, they had a lower Barthel index at admission and higher rates of inhalation injury and dementia. Regarding the length of hospital stay, patients with a higher burn index, prognostic body index, total body surface area, and rBaux scores took a longer period from admission to reach sitting and standing positions, and those who had buttock burns had significantly longer hospital stays.

Conclusions: In patients aged ≥80 years, higher mortality rates were associated with more severe burns, lower activities of daily living at admission, inhalation injury, and dementia. The length of hospital stay was longer in patients with severe burns, buttock burns, and inability to achieve early mobilization.

Lay summary: We investigated the factors influencing the survival rate and hospital stay duration among patients aged 80 years and older who required hospitalization for burns. We compared the records of surviving and deceased patients admitted to our hospital between 2008 and 2018. Our findings revealed that deceased patients experienced more severe burns, reduced activities of daily living at admission, and higher rates of inhalation injury and dementia. Furthermore, patients with severe burns had longer hospital stays, a longer period from admission to sitting and standing, and more frequently had buttock burns. These results indicate that burn severity, activities of daily living, inhalation injury, and dementia are critical factors in the treatment of burns in older patients.