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Burden of Burns in Brazil from 2000 to 2014: A Nationwide Hospital-Based Study

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Abstract

Background

Burns are a major public health concern, affecting mostly low- and middle-income countries. However, there is a lack of epidemiological studies on burns in these countries, particularly in Latin American countries. Our aim was to analyze nationwide demographic, epidemiological and economic characteristics of hospitalized burn patients in Brazil.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted including inpatients admitted with a diagnosis of burns (ICD-10:T20–T31) from all hospitals in Brazil from 2000 to 2014. We calculated hospitalization and in-hospital mortality rates. Length of stay (LoS), charges and premature mortality were also assessed.

Results

A total of 412,541 burn hospitalizations were found, with a hospitalization rate of 14.56 hospitalizations/100,000 inhabitants/year. This rate is decreasing since 2003, mostly due to the reduction among children and elderly. Children below 5 years old accounted for 24% of all admissions. In-hospital mortality rate was 8.1% and median LoS was 5 days. Mean hospitalization charge was 856 international dollars. Substantial regional discrepancies were found in several indicators.

Conclusion

In this first Latin American nationwide study of burn patients, a decreasing trend of hospitalization rate and a low charge contrasted with a high in-hospital mortality rate. This latter indicator, associated with a low LoS, may raise concerns regarding the quality of healthcare. Important discrepancies were found between regions, which may indicate important differences in regard to healthcare access and risk of burns. Targeting effective prevention, improving healthcare quality and providing more widespread and accurate burn registry are recommended.

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Acknowledgements

We thank to José Américo Serafim, BSc CIS, for providing access to the data, to João Viana, MSc, for helping in the study design and to Teresa Rebello-Andrade, BHlthSc, for the English proofreading. We also would like to thank the support given by the Project “NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016” (NanoSTIMA), financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MEDCIDS – Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450, Porto, Portugal

    João Vasco Santos, Júlio Souza & Alberto Freitas

  2. CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Porto, Portugal

    João Vasco Santos, Júlio Souza & Alberto Freitas

  3. Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery, Hospital São João, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    José Amarante

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  1. João Vasco Santos
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  2. Júlio Souza
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  4. Alberto Freitas
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Correspondence to João Vasco Santos.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Santos, J.V., Souza, J., Amarante, J. et al. Burden of Burns in Brazil from 2000 to 2014: A Nationwide Hospital-Based Study. World J Surg 41, 2006–2012 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-017-3988-5

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