Targeted prevention is needed to reduce the number of small children who suffer burns and scalds, doctors warn today.
The call comes after a report revealed that one year olds sustain ten times as many burns and scalds as older children.
A review of UK emergency department and burns unit cases shows that hot drinks, irons, hair straighteners and oven hobs are the main culprits for causing injury.
Professor Alison Kemp, of the Institute of Primary Care and Public Health, Cardiff University, led the study which drew on data from 1,215 children under the age of 16 who were treated in 5 emergency care departments, 1 burns assessment unit, and 3 regional children’s burns units across the UK.
Writing the results in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood, the team found 878 of the children (72%) of were under the age of 5, with most burn/scald injuries occurring in 1 year olds. 78% of all scalds occurring in children under the age of 5.
All scald injuries were sustained at home, with hot drinks accounting for 55% of the 554 scald injuries among young children.
Of the 277 contact burns recorded in the under 5s, 224 (81%) were caused when the youngsters touched hot items in the home. Hair straighteners or irons accounted for 42% of the injuries and oven hobs 27%.
Nearly half of older children sustained a contact burn outdoors, while hot water was responsible for half of the total number of scalds among 5 to 16 year olds – 78 out of 155.
Nearly all scalds affected the front of the body, predominantly the face, arms and upper trunk in young children, and the lower trunk, legs, and hands in older children.
A total of 1,001 children were treated in the accident and emergency department, while 1 in 5 (17.5%) had to be admitted to a specialist burns unit.
“Successful prevention is most likely to involve product design or environmental modification, and should be considered for hair straightener, iron, and oven related burns,” write the authors.
“Public information messages, children’s centres, health visitor or family nurse practitioners should address safety education as a matter of routine,” they conclude.
Kemp A, Jones S et al. Patterns of burns and scalds in children. Arch Dis Child 2013 4 February 2014; doi:10.1136/archdischild-2013-304991 [abstract]
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