Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of burns in mainland China from 2009 to 2018

Jie Yang; Guanglei Tian; Jianchao Liu; Huajuan Bai; Shuxu Yang; Mingzi Ran; Hongyu Li; Kui Ma; Siming Yang; Xiaobing Fu

doi:10.1093/burnst/tkac039

Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of burns in mainland China from 2009 to 2018

Burns Trauma. 2022 Sep 28:10:tkac039. doi: 10.1093/burnst/tkac039. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jie Yang^{1

2}, Guanglei Tian¹, Jianchao Liu³, Huajuan Bai³, Shuxu Yang^{1

2}, Mingzi Ran^{1

4}, Hongyu Li^{1

2}, Kui Ma¹, Siming Yang^{1

2}, Xiaobing Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Tissue Repair and Regeneration affiliated to the Medical Innovation Research Department, PLA General Hospital and PLA Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China 100853.
² Department of Dermatology, 4th Medical Center, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China 100048.
³ Department of Health Service, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China 100853.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, 4th Medical Center, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, P.R. China 100048.

Abstract

Background: Burn injuries place a heavy burden on the global healthcare system. However, there is still a lack of nationwide studies on the epidemiological characteristics of burn patients in mainland China. The present study aims to accurately analyze the clinical characteristics of burn patients by collecting data in mainland China from 2009 to 2018, which will provide effective strategies for healthcare systems and the government in mainland China.

Methods: Patients admitted for burn injuries to 196 hospitals in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in mainland China from 2009 to 2018 were included. The data collected included sex, age, month distribution, etiology, region, clinical outcome, injury anatomical location, total burn surface area and mortality. SPSS 19.0 software was used to analyze the data.

Results: From 2009 to 2018, the burn patients were 333,995 (0.76%), which included 222,480 (66.61%) males and 111,515 (33.39%) females. From 2009 to 2018, the number of individuals admitted to hospitals for burns showed a downward trend year by year. The burn patients accounted for the highest proportion of inpatients in 0-10 years (38.10%), followed by 40-50 years (13.14%). The highest cure ratio of burn inpatients was in the 20-30 age group (31 394, 71.53%). Among 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, the province with the highest proportion of total inpatients caused by burns was Inner Mongolia (4.61%), followed by Zhejiang (3.17%), Hainan (2.88%) and Xinjiang (2.64%). Summer (29.16%) was the season with the highest incidence of burn patients admitted to hospitals, followed by spring (25.6%). Scalding (60.19%) was the most frequent kind of burn treated, followed by fire (20.45%). The patients had multiple burn sites (68.89%) most often, followed by burns on the lower limbs (10.91%). From 0% to 10% total body surface area (TBSA) accounted for the highest ratio (37.19%), followed by 90-100% TBSA (21.74%).

Conclusions: The present study is the first to describe the associated situation and trends of burn patients in mainland China from 2009 to 2018. Our findings will serve as the latest clinical evidence for healthcare planning and prevention efforts in China and other countries.

Keywords: Burns; Clinical characteristics; Epidemiology; Mainland China; Multicentre.