Recorded presentation

Peter A. Brigham, MSW, Burn Foundation, 1201 Chestnut St., Suite 801, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-988-9882, balaburn@aol.com and Angela Hesener Quinn, BS, Health Studies Department, Lehigh Valley Hospital, P.O. Box 7017, Allentown, PA 18105.

A recent review of federal databases reveals that deaths from fire and burns have continued to decline and that non-fatal burn injuries in the United States appear to have followed the same trend. Specific counts of deaths from fire and burns (about 4,400 in 2001) are available from the National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics System. However, the relatively small number of burn injuries in the sample populations of surveys which track non-fatal injuries affects the reliability of point estimates obtained through these data sources. In addition, the analysis of long-term injury trends is complicated by changes in survey methodology. For example, in 1997 the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) stopped reporting injuries that resulted in reduced activity for at least one-half day but were not medically attended and the recall period was extended from two weeks to three months. The longer recall period increased the number of injuries in the sample, decreasing the possibility of sampling error, but may have reduced the resulting incidence estimate, due to less complete recall. The authors will present a blended estimate of medically-attended burn injuries in 2002, derived from the most recent data available from NHIS, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Limitations and difficulties in assessing trends in burn incidence and in combining point estimates derived from these databases will be described.

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