Abstract

Background: Burns are a global public health problem. Every year a substantial proportion of deaths in India occur due to burn injuries. Burn injuries constitute a serious medical, social, and psychological problem along with severe economic loss to individual and their family and hence the need for various sociodemographic factors to understand the problem in our region. Objectives: To study the sociodemographic factors of burn patients in Bundelkhand region and find out the cause and outcome of burn patients and to draw conclusion about preventive aspects of burn injuries.
Materials and Methods: A record-based cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary-care hospital, and the medical records of all the patients admitted to surgery department from January 2013 to December 2013 were reviewed and 354 cases included as study subjects. Data were recorded on predesigned and pretested questionnaire and analyzed by 2 statistical software using χ -test and percentages. Result: Of 354 burn patients, 52.5% were female and 47.5% were male subjects showing female predominance. Most of the burn patients belonged to 21–40 years, rural areas, Hindu, unemployed or housewife, and married. Thermal or flame burn was common and accidental in nature (64.5%) with male predominance, while suicidal attempts more in female subjects which was found to be significant ( P < 0.05). Overall mortality was 36.5%, although mortality and cure both was more in female subjects (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Sociodemographic aspects are important in raising knowledge, awareness, and applying preventive measures in community.