A retrospective analysis of 1083 Turkish patients with serious burns

Epidemiologic Analysis of Patients With Burns Presenting to the Burn Units of a University Hospital Network in Turkey

“…This finding is in contrast to some other reports from Turkey and Europe, where almost half of the study population was younger than 15 years old. [13][14][15][16] In our previous report from 1987, we claimed that more than the half of the patients admitted to the burn unit of a university hospital in Turkey were younger than the age of 15, which is in contrast with our current findings. 14 We believe that this shift is attributable to the fact that our hospital network now is serving to a homogeneously mixed population on a wide ranged geographical area, whereas our previous report was depending on a university hospital serving predominantly to children.…”

“…13 The analysis of age and sex records in our study showed that there were more burn cases in adults (70.4%) than there are in children (29.6%). This finding is in contrast to some other reports from Turkey and Europe, where almost half of the study population was younger than 15 years old.…”

“…It is also conspicuous that 56% of childhood burns and 16.7% of all burn cases occurred in the first 4 years of life, which is in line with other studies conducted in this region. 13,17 This study comprised more men (53.6%) than women (46.4%). The overall male predominance in our study agrees with several previous reports 4,5,10,13,[17][18][19] but is in contrast with our previous epidemiologic studies.…”

“…13,17 This study comprised more men (53.6%) than women (46.4%). The overall male predominance in our study agrees with several previous reports 4,5,10,13,[17][18][19] but is in contrast with our previous epidemiologic studies. 14 We believe that this contradiction depends on the fact that the data our burn units were collecting is reflecting patients from a greater population in Turkey.…”

“…This increase in the colder months might be attributable to the fact that during the winter, there is greater need for heating, especially of bathrooms and bathwater; greater use of traditional stacked tea pots and stoves, such as the "tandir"; greater use of indoor liquid-petroleum gas heaters; and greater use of open fires and grills for everyday cooking. 7,13 All this equipment in and around the home frequently is used without any safety measures. Thus, this equipment is responsible for much of the flame and scald burns in Turkey.…”