Epidemiology of hospital death related to burn in Kermanshah, Iran during 2004-2009

Burns and its complications are one of the most common causes of death in the world, as well as in Iran. Based on a report by the World Health Organization, 90% of deaths due to burn injuries occur in developing countries and 50% of these deaths occur at 15-44 years-of-age. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological aspects of death due to burns in Kermanshah, Iran, during 2004-2009.
This study was based on a collection of patients’ data. The target population was all deceased patients hospitalized due to burn injuries. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 15), and T-test, Fisher’s exact test and chi-square tests.
Among the 2 875 hospitalized patients during the six year period, 592 (20.5%) patients died, of whom 80.1% (474 cases) were female, and 19.9% (118 cases) were male. The mean age of the deceased patients was 29.8 years, with a range of 4 months to 100 years. Most of the deaths occurred in the age group 0-30 years (69.7%). The lowest rate of mortality was observed in the age group over 50 years with 12.6% of deaths. Patients with second degree burns constituted 1.7% of cases, combined second and third degree burn accounted for 16.6%, and third degree burns 81.8% of cases. The average duration of hospitalization was 8.13 days. Infections were the most common cause of death in these patients.
Our data revealed a high percentage of deaths in hospitalized burn patients due to infection and the severity of their burn. Most of the deaths occurred in the active ages of society.