Mortality patterns and risk factors in burn patients: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan

Abstract

According to WHO, a burn is a type of tissue injury that may be caused by thermal, electric, radioactive, or chemical agents. Burns represent a critical public health concern worldwide, particularly in developing countries that experience a disproportionately high incidence of burn injuries and mortality rates. Accurate and comprehensive statistics regarding the causes of mortality and their associated factors are crucial for informed healthcare decision-making. Unfortunately, there is a notable scarcity of studies that specifically address these issues, and a significant disparity exists between clinically diagnosed causes of death and postmortem findings. This study aims to determine the causes of mortality among patients admitted to the Burns Center to improve healthcare provision and reduce the mortality rate of burn patients. This retrospective cohort study involved 262 patients, comprising 58 % (n = 152) males and 42 % (n = 110) females. The mean age of males was 34.5 years (std = 13.9) while for males was 31.9 years (std = 13.2). The data was retrieved from patients' files and autopsy reports collected from the burns centre. The chi-square test and T-test were used to identify any correlation between the variables. The causes of mortality included sepsis (48.9, n = 128), hypovolemic shock (27.5, n = 72), renal failure (22.9, n = 60), and cardiac failure (0.8, n = 2). Significant associations were observed between the causes of mortality and factors such as age, total body surface area affected (TBSA), inhalational injury, and etiology of burns (p-value < 0.05. However, no significant associations were found with gender or the degree of burns (p-value > 0.05). Our study illustrates sepsis/multiple organ failure (MOF) as the most common cause of death in burn patients, along with highlighting the risk factors having a strong correlation with the causes of mortality in individuals with burn injuries.