Epidemiology of burns in the United Arab Emirates: Lessons for prevention Michal Grivna a , Hani O. Eid b , Fikri M. Abu-Zidan b, * a Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, United Arab Emirates b Trauma Group, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, United Arab Emirates 1. Introduction Burns impose a significant burden on victims, families and societies. Burned patients may undergo many surgical procedures, requiring long hospitalizations. Emotional and physical scars of burns can last lifetime [1,2]. About eleven millions of burns requiring medical care occurred worldwide in 2004. Burns are ranked fourth in all injuries, higher than combined incidence of tuberculosis and HIV infections [1]. The cost of burn treatment is incredibly high [3–6]. United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a fast developing country with a population of more than 6 million. The proportion of fatal injuries attributable to burns in the UAE was 2.6% in 2000–2008, with mortality incidence rate of 0.7 per 100,000 population [7]. The personal, environmental and product/equipment risk factors for burns considerably vary in different communities [8]. There is need for proper epidemiological analysis of burns in order to introduce tailored preventive measures. There is lack of information on non-fatal burns in the UAE. This information can be useful for prevention. We aimed to study the mechanism of injury, severity and outcome of hospitalized burn-related injuries in the UAE in order to give recommenda- tions regarding their prevention. b u r n s x x x ( 2 0 1 3 ) x x x – x x x a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Accepted 9 August 2013 Keywords: Burn Scalds Flame Prevention United Arab Emirates a b s t r a c t Purpose: To study mechanism, risk factors and outcome of hospitalized burns so as to give recommendations for prevention. Methods: Burn patients admitted to Al Ain hospital for more than 24 h or who died after arrival were studied over 4 years. Demographics, burn type, location and time of injury, total body burned surface area (TBSA), body region, hospital and ICU stay and outcome were analyzed. Results: 203 patients were studied, 69% were males and 25% were children under 5 years old. The most common location for burn was home. Women were burned more at home ( p < 0.0001). 28% of patients were injured at work with more men ( p < 0.0001) and non- UAE nationals ( p < 0.01). Scalds from water, tea were the major hazard at home, while majority of burns at work were from gas and flame. Burns caused by gas and flame had larger TBSA and longer ICU stay. Six (3%) patients died and nine (4%) were transferred to the specialized burn center. Conclusions: Safety education for caregivers and close supervision of young children is important to reduce pediatric burns. Occupational safety education of young men could prevent burns caused by gas and flame. # 2013 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Trauma Group, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, PO Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Tel.: +971 3 7137579; fax: +971 3 7672067. E-mail address: fabuzidan@uaeu.ac.ae (F.M. Abu-Zidan). JBUR-4110; No. of Pages 6 Please cite this article in press as: Grivna M, et al. Epidemiology of burns in the United Arab Emirates: Lessons for prevention. Burns (2013), http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2013.08.010 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/burns 0305-4179/$36.00 # 2013 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2013.08.010