An analysis of the main predisposing factors of burn injuries in Alicante, Spain.

A great number of studies on burns have been carried out from the epidemiologic point of view. However, the prevention of burns is only feasible when the risk factors on which we can act are known. In this study we attempt to analyze the different characteristics of the burns of the patients that were treated in our burn center. We designed a questionnaire with 31 questions of clinical and epidemiologic interest. This questionnaire was filled out with information for each of the 265 patients admitted to the burn unit in Alicante, Spain, during 1990 and 1991. Most of the patients we saw during this time were male, age 15 to 40 years old, urban residents, and smokers; we now consider those characteristics to be predisposing factors for burn injuries in our area. The most frequent agent of injury has been fire, except in the group of children less than 5 years old, in which scalds prevailed. Primary prevention of burns depends on knowing the most important risk factors of a certain area, which should then be targeted with prevention programs.