Leszek Marzec1, Saša Balija2, Jakub Holod3, Krystyna Woźniak4, Jakub Karawani5, Janusz Piotr Sikora6, Tomasz Korzeniowski7
1 Polish Association of the Study for Pain, Krakow, Poland
2 Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
3 Emergency Medical Service Operations Center of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava, Slovakia
4 Faculty of Health Sciences and Psychology, Collegium Medicum, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland
5 Faculty of Medicine, Lazarski University, Warsaw, Poland
6 Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 2nd Chair of Pediatrics, Central Teaching Hospital, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
7 East Center of Burn Treatment and Reconstructive Surgery, Leczna, Poland
Epidemiological studies of burns help identify and update risk factors and groups most at risk of burns, as well as direct preventive actions. However, national and international burn registries are essential for better targeting preventive campaigns.
Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze the epidemiological trends of ambulance interventions for burns in Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, and Croatia.
Materials and methods: Data from the register of ambulance calls for burns in Estonia (EE), Poland (PL), Slovakia (SK), and Croatia (CRO) from 2018 to 2023 were analyzed retrospectively. The data were obtained from the Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre (TEHIK) in Tallin (Estonia), National Center for Monitoring of Medical Rescue in Warsaw (Poland), Emergency Medical Service Operations Center of Slovak Republic, Bratislava (Slovakia), and Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine in Zagreb (Croatia). Data from Estonia were obtained for the period Jan. 2019 – Dec. 2023, from Slovakia for Aug. 2018 – Dec. 2023, and from Poland and Croatia for the period Jan. 2018 – Dec. 2023. The analysis focused on medical records with a diagnosis of burn according to the ICD-10 classification (T20 – T32, T75, X00 – X19, X33, X86, X97 – 98, Y26 – Y27). The analysis examined the percentage of ambulance calls for burns compared to other interventions, as well as the distribution of burn calls by month, patient gender and age, burn type, and affected body areas. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson independence test were used to analyze the results. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee (7/2024).
Results: During the study period the number of ambulance calls for burns was 3,987 in EE, 37,596 in PL, 6,621 in SK, and 3,933 in CRO. Compared to all calls, ambulance responses for burns accounted for 0.25 - 0.32% in EE, 0.19 – 0.22% in PL, 7.85 – 21.41% in SK, and 0.04 – 0.09% in CRO. The highest number of calls for burns was recorded in EE in June (11.69%, 466), in PL in Jan. (9.19%, 3,457), in SK in December (10.26%, 679), and in CRO in July (11.64%, 458). The adults accounted for the majority of patients (in EE 60.90%, 2,410; PL 58.85%, 19,539; SK 60.62%, 3,955; CRO 79.18%, 1,864) over the children (in EE 39.10%, 1,547; PL 41.15%, 13,662; SK 39.38%, 2,569; CRO 20.82%, 490). The thermal burns were most common (EE 92.80%, 3,390; PL 93.34%, 32,361, SK 86.50%, 3,673, CRO 56.45%, 880) over the electrical burns (EE 3.83%, 140, PL 1.11%, 388, SK 12.22%, 519, CRO 41.31%, 644), the chemical burns (EE 3.37%, 123, PL 5.54%, 1,938, SK 1.27%, 54, CRO 2.24%, 35), and the radiation injury (PL, n=3), as well as the upper body parts.
Conclusions:
1. During the study period, burn - related calls made up a negligible percentage of all interventions in Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, and Croatia.
2. The similarities observed across all the analyzed countries included a predominance of adults (more than half) over children and the predominance of patients with thermal burns (three - quarters of cases).
3. The identified differences included a higher frequency of events during warmer months in Estonia and Croatia and during winter in Poland and Slovakia, as well as a high percentage of electrical burns in Croatia.