• A Van Niekerk, R Govender, N Hornsby, and L Swart.
• South African Medical Research Council, University of South Africa's Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit, P.O. Box 19070, Tygerberg 7505, Cape Town, South Africa; Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 1087, Lenasia 1820, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: ashley.vanniekerk@mrc.ac.za.
• Burns. 2017 Jun 1; 43 (4): 866-876.

AbstractThis study examines adult safety knowledge and practices regarding the use of paraffin cooking appliances. The use of these is common in South Africa with injury risks that are poorly understood. This cross-sectional study was in an informal settlement in Johannesburg, South Africa, where children were reportedly at high risk for burns. This study sought to clarify relationships between key risks and developed individual and composite variables from theoretical constructs and operational definitions of risks for burns. Risks included Child Use of Paraffin Appliances, Child Proximity to Cooking, Risky Stove Use, Caregiver's Burn Treatment Knowledge, Children Locked in House, Children Alone in House. Number of children remains as in proof as this was not a composite scale. Child Proximity to Cooking was associated with more children in the home. Households where children were in greater proximity to cooking were 6 times more likely to be left alone at home, with caregivers with no education over 100 times more likely to lock their children at home. Children locked in were often from homes where caregivers used appliances unsafely. In settings with hazardous energy use, compressed household configurations, and families with multiple children, Risky Stove Use and the practice of locking children in the home may be catastrophic.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

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