Deaths due to burns in Adana, Turkey

Abstract

A series of 502 deaths due to burn, which comprised 5.7% of all medicolegal deaths were reviewed in order to determine general features of burn related death. Victims' ages were ranged between 2 months and 91 years, and male to female ratio was 1.7. The majority of the victims (175 cases, 35.9%) were in the 0-5 age group, followed by 21-30 age group with 83 cases. Unintentional burning (91.4%) was the most common manner of deaths followed by suicide (4.6%) and homicide (2%) burning. Although fire burns constituted 57% of overall, scalding related burns (138 cases, 65.7%) were the commonest type under 10 years of age. The present study will contribute to taking and disseminating safety measures by determining general properties and risk factors of such preventable deaths.