| Abstract: | Objective To provide a practical basis for the field of elderly burn injury prevention and treatment by retrospectively analyzing the clinical data of elderly burn patients. Methods We retrospectively analyse the medical records of elderly burn patients who met the inclusion criteria admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University （hereafter referred to as the author’s unit） from January 2014 to December 2020, including gender, age, chronic disease, place of residence, place of injury, prehospital emergency trauma treatment, route of medical treatment, cause of injury, season of onset, burn site, burn area, and depth of burn. The data were analyzed by cardinality fit to optimize the data. The data were subjected to chi-square goodness-of-fit test, c2 test, linear association, Fisher’s exact probability test, rank sum test, one-way and multi-way Cox regression analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. Results （1） A total of 471 patients met the inclusion criteria, there was an overall increasing trend of the proportion of elderly patients to inpatients in the same period with the increase of years （P < 0.01）. The male to female ratio was 1.75∶1 （300/171）, significantly more males than females （P < 0.001）; the age distribution of patients was 69 （64, 77） years. In total, 247 patients （52.44%） had combined chronic diseases, and the common chronic diseases were hypertension 141 times （33.41%）, diabetes mellitus 71 times （16.82%）, old cerebral infarction 51 times （12.09%） in that order. （2） There were significantly more patients living in rural areas than in urban areas, and significantly more burns at home than in public places （all P < 0.05）. There were 381 （80.89%） patients with untreated wounds in the prehospital emergency; only 34 were treated by 120; the common causes of injury were flame burns 274 （58.17%）, hot liquid burns 155 （32.91%） in that order. The most frequent seasons were winter （168 cases, 35.67%） and spring （130 cases, 27.60%）. The common burn sites were lower extremity 350 cases （74.31%） and upper extremity 230 cases （48.83%） in that order. The total burn area ≤10% TBSA was 272 cases （57.75%）, of which 170 cases （36.09% of the total） were combined with third-degree burns. The severity of burns, in descending order, was moderate in 234 cases （49.68%）, mild in 102 cases （21.66%）, severe in 80 cases （16.99%）, and extra-severe in 55 cases （11.68%）. （3） In this group, 288 patients （61.15%） were finally cured and improved, 164 （34.82%） were automatically discharged, and 19 （4.03%） died. The age, total burn area, third-degree burn area, inhalation injury, post-injury complications, and combined chronic diseases were independent risk factors for the death in elderly patients （all P < 0.05）. The duration of hospitalization was 11 （5, 22） d, and the hospitalization cost was 14320.62 （6347.92, 39638.06） yuan, which was influenced by the duration of hospitalization, total burn area, third-degree burn area, treatment modality, and complications after taking its logarithm because of the skewed distribution of hospitalization cost. Conclusions Elderly burns often occur in rural homes in winter and spring, with a male predominance, and flame burns and hydrothermal burns are the main causes. Patients are mostly young elderly people, and small-area deep burns are common, mainly concentrated in the lower and upper limbs, with high treatment costs. Most families lack knowledge of first aid for burns, and 120 emergency personnel are relatively inadequate regarding emergency treatment of burn trauma. Specific emergency prevention and treatment strategies for elderly burns should be optimized, education on first aid for burns and prevention of chronic diseases should be increased, and social support should be strengthened to reduce the incidence and morbidity of elderly burns and reduce economic losses. |
