• Zeshan Chen, Mingjun Zhang, Sitian Xie, Xiang Zhang, Shijie Tang, Cuiping Zhang, and Haihong Li.
• Department of Plastic Surgery and Burn Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, North Dongxia Road, Shantou 515041, Guangdong Province, China.
• Burns. 2022 Jun 1; 48 (4): 915-925.

BackgroundMany studies demonstrate that being burned has both physical and psychological sequelae that affect quality of life. Further, these effects may be more prevalent in some regions and populations. We sought to access the unbalanced distributions and temporal trends concerning the health burden of thermal burns.MethodsData were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, and the disability-adjusted life year (DALY)1 was used as a measure of health burden. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between the age-standardized DALY rate and socio-demographic index.2 Joinpoint regression analysis and comparison line charts were all applied to assess the temporal trends of burns.ResultsThe age-standardized DALY rate of global thermal burns decreased by 43.7%, from 197 (95% CI: 152-228) per 100,000 in 1990 to 111 (95% CI: 93-129) per 100,000 in 2017. The burden was borne mainly by children 1-4 years of age and people over 80 years. Socio-demographic index was negatively correlated with the age-standardized DALY rate. In low-middle and low socio-demographic index regions, the decreasing trends were slower than other regions with an average annual percentage change of -2.1% (95% CI: -2.2 to -2.0) and -2.1% (95% CI: -2.1 to -2.0), respectively. Among six geographical regions, Africa presented the highest age-standardized DALY rates of 352 (95% CI: 275-410) per 100,000 in 1990 and 208 (95% CI: 175-236) per 100,000 in 2017, and also the slowest average decreasing trend, with an average annual percentage change of -1.9% (95% CI: -2 to -1.8).ConclusionsThe global burden of thermal burns shows a downward trend from 1990 to 2017, and regions with lower socio-demographic index and Africa show greater burdens and smaller downward trends.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

11 keywords...

hide…