E. Moeller1, Z. Fowler1, F. Carrillo4, L. Roa1, T. Uribe-Leitz3, V. Macias4, L. Pompermaier1, R. Riviello1,3 1Harvard School Of Medicine,Program In Global Surgery And Social Change,Brookline, MA, USA 4Compañeros En Salud,Jaltenango, CHIAPAS, Mexico 3Brigham And Women’s Hospital,Center For Surgery And Public Health,Boston, MA, USA
Introduction: Burns disproportionately affect individuals in regions with lower socioeconomic status, often exacerbating economic, social, and health disparities. Mexico is a middle-income country with stark disparities, but with little documentation of the burden of burn injuries. The purpose of this study was to describe the patients with burns admitted to Mexican public hospitals and their associated in-hospital mortality.
Methods: A retrospective study was performed using data from “Hospital Discharges”, an open-access database that provides data from all public hospitals affiliated with the Mexican Ministry of Health, including health ministry hospitals, government employment-based insurance hospitals, and military hospitals. All discharges during 2014-2018 with codes corresponding to “burn” and “corrosion” (T20-T32, T54, and T75) according to the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision (ICD-10) were included. Population data for each state was obtained from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography. Descriptive statistics were performed.
Results: During 2014 to 2018, 43,609 people were admitted to public hospitals in Mexico due to burn injuries, with an annual mean of 8,772 admissions per year (SD=411.4). The annual mean burn admission rate in Mexico was 7.3/100,000 (SD=2.7). Mexico City is the state with the highest annual burn admission rate of 13.6/100,000, while Nuevo Leon reported the lowest at 1.0/100,000. Children under five were the most frequently admitted age group, representing 36.5% of total admissions during the study period (annual mean=3,203, SD=347.4). Males accounted for 63% of total admissions (annual mean=5,106, SD=204.6). Accidental burns were the most common cause of burns, accounting for 62.6% of total admissions (annual mean=5,487, SD=1,198). Non-accidental burns, including self-inflicted or injuries caused by violence, were less than 2% of total burn causes (annual mean=160, SD=44.4). Burn cause was unspecified in 34.6% of total database entries, with missing entries increasing over the five years from 2,036 in 2014 to 4,272 in 2018 (annual mean=3,016, SD=918.1). In-hospital mortality was recorded at an annual average of 2.6% (SD=27.6).
Conclusion: Consistent with international literature, burns in Mexico affect young children the most, and males more than females. The highest rate of admissions per capita occurred in Mexico City state. The reported in-hospital mortality was less than 3% annually, which is consistent with the literature for high-middle-income countries like Mexico. Data analysis revealed substantial incomplete data, such as burn cause, which demonstrates the need for improved documentation as complete data are essential for accurately capturing the scope of the disease burden. Our findings highlight populations with high burden of burn admissions as well as regional disparities. These results can help inform policy surrounding prevention, distribution of burn centers, and required resources.