Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
-
Pediatric burns are preventable with legislative and infrastructural changes. Although retrospective audits of many low- and middle-income countries have aided preventative efforts, the epidemiological status of burns in the Caribbean is not known. This study characterizes pediatric burns in the Dominican Republic (DR) and compares these to age-matched North American records captured by the National Burn Repository. ⋯ This investigation identifies a demographical profile where electrical burns account for a significant percentage of the burn population. This provides a basis for concentrating preventative efforts in vulnerable populations.
-
Burn injuries to workers can have a devastating impact, however knowledge of the epidemiology of work-related burn injuries in Australia and New Zealand is limited. ⋯ Almost one in five cases of working-aged people admitted to Australian and New Zealand burns centres was work-related. Through identification of vulnerable groups, this study informs policy and strategies to minimise occupational burn risk.
-
As a result of the Spanish healthcare system overhaul, quality of care is becoming increasingly important. All burn service providers are required to measure patient satisfaction with care as an imperative need. Nevertheless, there are very few papers regarding patient satisfaction in burn units or in plastic surgery in general. The aim of this study is to examine patient satisfaction in our burn unit and to identify areas for improvement. ⋯ Patients hospitalised in our burn unit are highly satisfied with the care they receive, especially with regard to subjective quality. The evaluation of the satisfaction outcomes helped us to identify several strengths and weaknesses in the healthcare services we provide as well as strategies to improve the weaknesses. Evaluating care quality and patient satisfaction in any burn unit is appropriate and recommendable given that it offers clients' first-hand opinions.
-
To our knowledge this is the first published estimate of the charges of the care of burns in Sweden. The Linköping Burn Interventional Score has been used to calculate the charges for each burned patient since 1993. The treatment of burns is versatile, and depends on the depth and extension of the burn. This requires a flexible system to detect the actual differences in the care provided. We aimed to describe the model of burn care that we used to calculate the charges incurred during the acute phase until discharge, so it could be reproduced and applied in other burn centres, which would facilitate a future objective comparison of the expenses in burn care. ⋯ Our intervention-based estimate of charges has proved to be a valid tool that is sensitive to the procedures that drive the costs of the care of burns such as large TBSA%, intensive care, and operations. The burn score system could be reproduced easily in other burn centres worldwide and facilitate the comparison regardless of the differences in the currency and the economic circumstances.