Epidemiology and outcome of childhood burn injury in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Burn-related harms are a substantial problem in children, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, where over 90% of burn-related childhood deaths occur. The aim of this study was to determine the causes, magnitude, management, and outcome of burn injury among children who attended the Pediatric Emergency Outpatient Department of Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from 15 November to 20 December 2018 on a sample of 395 patient medical records who have been treated burn injury for 5 consecutive years from September 2013 to September 2018. Systematic random sampling was used to select the patient records, and a pretested structured checklist was organized to collect the data. Epi Info 3.5.4 was used for data entry and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0 for analysis. Results: The majority (62.5%) of the burn injuries affected <5 children. The major cause of burn injury was scald (59.7%). Statistically, a significant association was found between the cause of burn and age of the patient (P = 0.000). The 5 years' prevalence of burn injury was 9.79%. Almost all burn injuries occur at home (97%) and accidental (94.2%), and more than half (56.7%) of the children suffered from the second-degree burn. Almost half (47.1%) burnt 10%–20% total body surface area, and 47.6% have got prehospital first aid interventions and 36.2% received surgical interventions. Almost two-thirds (74.4%) of the children recovered without complication. Six died and four of them were third-degree burn victims and <5 years old. There was a significant statistical association between treatment outcome and age of the patient (P = 0.004). Conclusion: The epidemiology and outcome of burn injury among children were comparable to other developing countries, but the high magnitude was noticed. Public health education and prevention programs may help to reduce the prevalence of childhood burn injury.