Consequences of childhood burn: Findings from the largest community-based injury survey in Bangladesh

In terms of morbidity and disability, burn is a major public health problem throughout the world, especially in low-income countries. It causes long-term disability and remains as a health, social and economic burden. A population-based survey was conducted in Bangladesh between January and December 2003. Nationally representative data were collected from 171,366 rural and urban households comprising of a total 819,429 population, which included 351,651 children under 18 years of age. Mothers/head of households were interviewed with a structured instrument. The objective of this paper is to determine the consequences of childhood burn at social and economic levels in Bangladesh. In the survey, 1013 children were found with different degrees of burn in the preceding 1 year. Among them 20 children were permanently disabled. The rate of permanent disability was found to be 5.7 per 100,000. The average loss of school days was found to be about 21 days. More than two-thirds of the burn victims required assistance in their daily activities for different durations of time. More than 7% of the children required hospitalisation for their burns. The rate of hospitalisation was 21.9 per 100,000; the average duration of hospital stay was 13.4 days. The highest duration (40 days) of hospital stay was found among girls 10– 14 years old. The highest expenditure for the treatment was also found in this age group. The average direct expenditure incurred by a family for treatment of severe burn was determined to be $462. In this study it was found that more than 61% of the families earn less than $50 a month. Burn is a devastating injury among all childhood injuries with significant additional economic consequences beyond the medical, pain, and suffering issues. Developing a national prevention program should be an immediate public health priority