European journal of epidemiology
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The study group is comprised of 234 patients (6.4%) who died out of 3680 patients treated for burn injuries during the period January 1982 to December 1997 in Kuwait. There were 112 (47.9%) males and 122 (52.1%) females and their mean age was 30 years (range 1-93) when compared with 24 years among survivors. The high mortality amongst two age groups 0-5 years (39 deaths, 16.7%) and 16-35 years (109 deaths, 46.6%) shows their vulnerability in the society. ⋯ A total of 120 patients (51.3%) died due to septicaemia, 83 (35.5%) due to renal failure, 28 (10.2%) due to multi-organ failure, and 7 (3.0%) due to bronchopneumonia. The overall mortality rate was 6.4%, but this has significantly lowered to 4.4% (p = < 0.01) during last four years probably due to better burn care. The study thus shows that age group 0-5 and 16-35 years, domestic accidents, flame burn, inhalation injury, and pre-existing diseases are risk factors and septicaemia as the dominant cause of death in our patients.