Epidemiology of burns. The burn-prone patient.

Predisposition to burning was identified by history, by conversation with the family, or by physical examination. Factors that decreased the patient's ability to respond appropriately were considered as predisposing. A consecutive series of 155 hospitalized, burned, adult patients was reviewed. Approximately 50 per cent of the entire series showed predisposition to burning; among the more severe burns, this fraction was 57 percent. Among women, predisposition was more prominent in all categories than among men. Among women, those predisposed to burning had larger burns and a greater likelihood of dying. Alcoholism led the list of predisposing factors, with senility, psychiatric disorders, and neurological disease following in order. The patient's own home was usually the site of the burn in those predisposed, with the initial ignition being in the patient's hair or clothing, the mattress, bedclothes, or an overstuffed chair. All of the burns occurring in hospital or mental institution patients were among those predisposed to burning.