Al-Hajj Samar, Pike Ian, Oneissi Ahmad, Zheng Alex, Abu-Sittah Ghassan
Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
J Burn Care Res. 2019 Oct 16;40(6):769-775. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/irz080.
Burn-related injury is a global public health problem with significant rates of morbidity and mortality. The adverse effect of burn leads to substantial functional, psychological, and economic repercussions. Low- and middle-income countries, including Lebanon, carry a disproportionately greater burden of burn injuries. This study adopted a mixed method approach to explore burn-related injuries in a sample (n = 347) of refugee children settling in Lebanon. We reviewed 179 cases of patients records that met the criteria of a child aged 0 to 19 years and has sustained a burn due to living conditions. War-related burn injuries were excluded. The findings demonstrate that there is a significantly higher proportion of 0- to 4-year-olds with burn injuries (53.6%) compared with the older age groups. Scald burns, caused by boiling liquid, were the most common cause of burns (58.6%), followed by fire/open flame (12.8%) and heat contact (6.7%). Upper trunk and arm burns were significantly higher than other body parts (35.2%), females were among the potential at-risk group with due to boiling liquids caused by food preparation and serving. Fifteen to nineteen years showed a high proportion of fire/flame burn caused by labor accident. Qualitative analysis of case reports further confirmed our findings and emphasized the impact of low socioeconomic status, overcrowded living conditions and open floor cooking and heating on increasing risk of pediatric burns. Additional research is needed to increase understanding on risk factors pertaining to pediatric burns in the refugee community with a view to integrating appropriate preventive measures and informing evidence-based policies and programs.
烧伤相关损伤是一个全球性的公共卫生问题，发病率和死亡率都很高。烧伤的不良影响会导致严重的功能、心理和经济后果。包括黎巴嫩在内的低收入和中等收入国家，烧伤损伤的负担尤其沉重。本研究采用混合方法，对在黎巴嫩定居的难民儿童样本（n = 347）中的烧伤相关损伤进行了探索。我们回顾了179例符合0至19岁儿童标准且因生活条件导致烧伤的患者记录。与战争相关的烧伤损伤被排除在外。研究结果表明，0至4岁烧伤儿童的比例（53.6%）明显高于其他年龄组。由沸腾液体导致的烫伤是最常见的烧伤原因（58.6%），其次是火灾/明火（12.8%）和热接触（6.7%）。上躯干和手臂烧伤明显高于身体其他部位（35.2%），女性因食物准备和供应过程中沸腾液体而成为潜在的高危群体。15至19岁的儿童因劳动事故导致火灾/火焰烧伤的比例较高。对病例报告的定性分析进一步证实了我们的研究结果，并强调了社会经济地位低下、居住条件拥挤以及开放式炉灶烹饪和取暖对增加儿童烧伤风险的影响。需要进行更多研究，以加深对难民社区儿童烧伤相关风险因素的理解，从而纳入适当的预防措施，并为循证政策和项目提供依据。
