The epidemiology of patients with burn injuries admitted to Norwegian hospitals in 2007
Accepted 24 June 2009.
Abstract
Objectives
To study the incidence and outcome of burns in Norway in 2007, and to establish estimates for effective length of stay, mortality and economical costs.
Methods
Data from the Norwegian Patient Registry on all patients discharged from all somatic hospitals in Norway in 2007 with main or subsidiary diagnosis of burn injury (ICD-10: T20–31) were collected.
Results
Seven hundred and twenty-six patients (65.0% male) with acute burns were admitted to Norwegian hospitals in 2007, requiring 8157 in-hospital days and resulting in a mean length of hospitalization per burn case of 11.3 days (S.D. 15.2). The mean age of the patients was 26.9 years (S.D. 25.5), and the mortality was 2.1%. For children below 5 years of age the incidence of burns admitted to hospital was 82.5/100,000/year. The annual total cost for in-hospital burn care exceeded €10.5 million (€2,200,000/million inhabitants)
Conclusion
Compared to similar data from Norway (1992) the rate of admission for burns in 2007 (15.5/100,000/year) appeared as high as in 1992, whereas the mean length of stay was reduced by 26%. Children under the age of 5 had a seven times higher incidence compared the rest of the population.
aDepartment of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Haukeland University Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway
bSection for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
cBurn Centre, Department of Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
Corresponding author at: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Haukeland University Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway. Tel.: +47 55976850; fax: +47 55976898.
ABSTRACT