Understanding Epidemiological Trends in Geriatric Burn Injuries: A National Multicenter Analysis from NEISS 2004-2022

Sam Boroumand; Beatrice Katsnelson; Alna Dony; Viola A Stögner; Lioba Huelsboemer; Neil Parikh; Seung Ju Jackie Oh; Martin Kauke-Navarro; Alisa Savetamal; Bohdan Pomahac

doi:10.1093/jbcr/irae102

Understanding Epidemiological Trends in Geriatric Burn Injuries: A National Multicenter Analysis from NEISS 2004-2022

J Burn Care Res. 2024 Jun 6:irae102. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/irae102. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
² University of Leeds, School of Medicine, Leeds, UK.
³ Hannover Medical School, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Burn Center, Hannover, Germany.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Connecticut Burn Center, Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT, USA.

PMID: 38842413
DOI: 10.1093/jbcr/irae102

Abstract

Burn injuries pose a significant source of patient morbidity/mortality and reconstructive challenges for burn surgeons, especially in vulnerable populations such as geriatric patients. Our study aims to provide new insights into burn epidemiology by analyzing the largest national, multicenter sample of geriatric patients to date. Utilizing the National Electronic Injury and Surveillance System (NEISS) database (2004-2022), individuals with a "Burn" diagnosis were extracted and divided into two comparison age groups of 18-64 and 65+. Variables including sex, race, affected body part, incident location, burn etiology, and clinical outcomes were assessed between the two groups utilizing two proportion z-tests. 60,581 adult patients who sustained burns were identified from the NEISS database with 6,630 of those patients categorized as geriatric (65+). Geriatric patients had a significantly greater frequency of scald burns (36.9% vs. 35.4%; p<0.01), and third degree/full-thickness burns (10.4% vs 5.5%, p<0.01) relative to non-geriatric adult patients with most of these burns occurring at home (75.9% vs 67.4%; p<0.01). The top five burn sites for geriatric patients were the hand, face, foot, lower arm, and lower leg and the top five burn injury sources were hot water, cookware, oven/ranges, home fires, and gasoline. Geriatric patients had over two times greater risk of hospital admission (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 2.17-2.49, p<0.01) and over five times greater risk of ED mortality (OR: 6.22, 95% CI: 4.00-9.66, p<0.01) after incurring burn injuries. These results highlight the need for stronger awareness of preventative measures for geriatric burn injuries.

Keywords: Burn Injuries; Burns; Elderly; Geriatric.

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