Prevalence and risk factors of cooking-related burn injury among under-five-years old children in a resource-limited setting: a community-based cross-sectional study in Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Cooking-related child burn injury causes a greater health burden in low-and-middle-income countries. Therefore, a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 5830 under-five-years old children in a resource-limited community in Northwest Ethiopia to determine the prevalence and risk factors of this child health problem. Data were collected by trained nurses using a questionnaire and the logistic regression analysis method was applied to identify factors linked with burn injury. Injury prevalence was 6.2% (95% CI:5.5–6.8); and this burden was linked with several risk factors such as lower literacy status of caretakers [AOR = 2.21 (95% CI:1.05–4.67)], overcrowding [AOR = 2.35(95% CI:1.25–4.43], lack of separate kitchen [AOR =2.19 (95% CI:1.56–3.07)], using traditional cookstove [AOR = 2.04 (95% CI:1.23–3.36)], and lack of child supervision [AOR = 2.27 (95% CI:1.63–3.17)]. In conclusion, children experience a high burden of burn injury. Thus, stakeholders should work to reduce child burn injury by modifying the aforementioned risk factors.