By retrospectively studying the characteristics of hospitalized burn children in a Grade-A hospital in Anhui Province, the epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized burn children were analyzed to provide theoretical basis for the formulation of effective preventive measures.

The medical records of 375 hospitalized burn children under ≤14 years old admitted to the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College from January 2016 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and their gender, age, and burn time (burn year, burn season), place of burn, burn cause, burn location, pre-hospital treatment, post-injury hospitalization time, burn area, operation or not, length of stay, hospitalization expenses and influencing factors were statistically analyzed. Data were compared with chi-square test, Fisher test, t test and linear regression analysis.

A total of 375 cases of hospitalized burn children who met the inclusion criteria were treated, including 231 males (61.6%) and 144 females (38.4%), and the ratio of male to female was 1.6∶1.0. There was statistically significant difference in the gender composition ratio of hospitalized burn children (t= 55.032, P< 0.05). The ages of children were mainly concentrated in children aged ≥1 year and ≤3 years (255 cases, accounting for 68.0%), and there was no statistically significant difference in gender comparison of children of different age groups(χ²= 0.686, P= 0.876). From January 2016 to December 2019, the number of burn children was 100 cases (26.7%), 106 cases (28.3%), 81 cases (21.6%), and 88 cases (23.4%) respectively. With the growth of the year, the number of burn children showed an overall downward trend, and there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of children with burns in each year (χ²= 4.104, P= 0.250); the season for burns in this group of children with burns was spring (March to May) (105 cases, accounting for 28.0%), autumn (September to November) 100 cases (26.7%), which were the most common, summer (June to August) 93 cases (24.8%), winter (December to February) 77 cases (20.5%), but there was no significant difference in the number of burn children in different seasons (χ²= 5.128, P= 0.163). The main place of burn was at home (352 cases, accounting for 93.9%), and there was statistically significant difference in the number of children in different age groups and different burn places (χ²= 48.519, P< 0.05). Hot fluid scald mainly occurred at home (326 cases, accounting for 97.3%), mainly in children aged ≥1 year and ≤3 years (246 cases, 65.6%), and there were statistically significant differences between the causes of burns in children with burns at different burn sites and the causes of burns in children with burns at different ages (χ²= 65.387, P< 0.05; Fisher=70.834, P< 0.05). Thermal fluid scalds were common in the face, neck and chest (162 cases, accounting for 43.20%). Most of the children were washed with cold water and bandaged in hospital (236 cases, 62.9%) and 233 children (62.1%) were sent to the hospital within 3 hours after burn. There was statistically significant differences in the treatment methods of different years (χ²= 45.344, P< 0.05). According to the statistics, most of the burn children (61 cases, accounting for 16.3%) had burn area less than 5% total body surface area. Three hundred and twenty seven burn children did not receive surgical treatment. The median length of hospital stay was 7 days, and the median cost of hospitalization was 4 628.45 yuan. The skewed distribution of hospitalization expenses was affected by the length of hospitalization, the presence or absence of surgery, and the area of burns after taking the logarithm.

Boys≥1 year and≤3 years old are easy to be scalded by hot fluid at home. The cause of burns has different characteristics due to different age groups and burn locations. The burn area was mostly less than 5% of total surface area. Most of the children are washed with cold water after burn and admitted to hospital within 3 hours. Most of the children are not treated by surgery. The cost of hospitalization is affected by the length of stay, the presence or absence of surgery, and the area of burns.