Self-harm in burn patients: An analysis of Finnish patient records (2011-2020).

AIM: To collect data on self-harm burn patients at a national level in Finland and analyze patient characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: First, we went through The National Care Register for Health Care (Hilmo) records from 2011 to 2015 to find all patients in Finland with both burn and self-harm ICD10 codes. Then we investigated the medical records of all patients treated at the National Burn Centre (NBC) in Helsinki in the period 2011-2020. Patients admitted to the hospital because of self-harm burn injuries were compared to those without self-harm injuries. Patients below 18 years old were excluded. RESULTS: The Hilmo register consisted of a total of 3391 adult burn patients admitted to any healthcare unit during the study period. Compared with non-self-harm patients, self-harm patients (N = 82) had lower mean age (41 years vs 54 years, p < 0.001) and longer hospitalization (18 days vs. 6 days, p < 0.05). Two-thirds of the self-harm patients (N = 38) admitted to the NBC in the period 2011-2020 had a pre-burn history of psychiatric care (66%) and one-third of them had a previous record of self-harm or suicide attempt. Men had more severe burns than women (mean TBSA 46% vs. 14%, p < 0.05), and seven of them died during the first 48 h of care, but this was not the case for any female patient. CONCLUSIONS: Self-harm burn patients were younger and had longer hospitalization at all care levels than other burn patients. Based on medical records of hospitalized self-harm burn patients, we found clear gender differences in the severity of the burn injury and in mortality, with men suffering more severe injuries, in some cases leading to death. Recognizing high-risk patients pre-burn could have a strong preventive impact.

Occupational burn injuries in Finland 2011-2015.

BACKGROUND: This study comprises all hospitalized work-related burn injuries in one country during 2011-2015. The purpose was to describe demographics, causes and risk factors of occupational burn injuries with special focus on the outcome of return to work. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study on two data sources of which Finnish Workers' Compensation Center's (FWCC) register includes all work-related burn cases at a given time. Additional data have been obtained from those patients, who were referred to the National Burn Centre (NBC) during the same time according to the Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB) criteria. We compare demographics, injury mechanisms and general burn data of these two patient groups. RESULTS: Based on FWCC register, in 2011-2015 occurred 11,623 work-related burn cases of whom 54% were men. During the study period, NBC admitted 26 patients fulfilling EMSB criteria. The most severe patients treated in NBC had injuries affecting multiple body parts. In FWCC data, hand was most injured body part. Kitchen/bakery work was the most common profession in FWCC register but in NBC material industrial and transport professions dominated. In FWCC register, patients had lower mean age (37 years vs. 43 years). Most severe injuries occurred among older patients: In NBC data, those with total body surface area 40% or over had mean age 53 years. Majority of patients returned to work. CONCLUSION: Safety at work in Finland has improved during last decades, and the vast majority of work-related burn injuries are minor. Minor burn injuries are common in young adults working in kitchen and bakery work, whereas elderly men working in transports and industry sustain the most severe burn accidents. Retirement after work-related injury becomes very expensive for all parties, and this data can be used in preventing those cases as well as the minor accidents.