The global, regional, and national burden of burns: An analysis of injury by fire, heat, and hot substances in the global burden of disease study 2019

Background: Burn caused by exposure to hot substances is a common occurrence but there is little data on prevalence trends and disease burden. This research report the burden of burn injuries globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2019, identify hotspots, and analyze factors affecting disease burden with data from Global Burden of Disease 2019 survey.

Methods: The Global Burden of Disease 2019 estimated the incidence, death rate, and disease-adjusted life years (DALY) for injuries due to exposure to fire, heat, and hot substances from 1990 to 2019. For comparison, all rates were age standardized. And the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was used to reflect the degree of change of the annual rate.

Results: Globally, there were an estimated 8,378,122 (95 % uncertainty interval [UI]: 6,531,887-10,363,109) burn injuries in 2019, with age-standardized incidence, death, and DALY rates of 118 (95 % UI: 89-147), 1.44 (95 % UI: 1.14-1.72), and 96.6 (95 % UI: 75.03-123.05) per 100,000 people, which were 22 %, 43 %, and 43 % lower than those in 1990, respectively. Regionally, age-standardized incidence rate showed a positive association with Socio-demographic Index (SDI) from 1990 to 2019, whereas age-standardized death and DALY rates were negatively associated with SDI. The variation in the age-standardized incidence rate was intrinsic, and the variation in the age-standardized death rate was related to the human development index in the country. The global burn incidence population was skewed, with peaks mainly in the 5 to 19 years age group, but age-specific death rates and disease burden were higher in the under-5 and older age groups.

Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the need to consider regional differences in burns when allocating health resources. Despite the reduced global burden of burns, incidence and deaths remain high. Moreover, there are significant differences between regions which are associated with the SDI and the human development index. Additionally, differences exist in the age and sex of the affected populations. Although the exact causes require further study, there is no doubt that the prevention of burns requires serious attention.