Characteristics of the burn injury sustained by young people hospitalised after a burn by grade
| Characteristic | Burn cohort—Grade 3 (n=2148) | Burn cohort—Grade 5 (n=1661) | Burn cohort—Grade 7 (n=1077) | Burn cohort—Grade 9 (n=476) | ||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Burn mechanism | ||||||||
| Exposure to either controlled or uncontrolled fire (X00–X03) | 75 | 3.5 | 66 | 4.0 | 53 | 4.9 | 32 | 6.7 |
| Exposure to ignition of highly flammable material or melting of clothing (X04–X06) | 34 | 1.6 | 25 | 1.5 | 29 | 2.7 | 19 | 4.0 |
| Exposure to other or unspecified smoke, fire and flames (X08–X09) | 84 | 3.9 | 73 | 4.4 | 46 | 4.3 | 26 | 5.5 |
| Contact with hot drinks, food, fats and cooking oils (X10) | 686 | 31.9 | 530 | 31.9 | 325 | 30.2 | 133 | 27.9 |
| Contact with hot tap water (X11) | 166 | 7.7 | 131 | 7.9 | 79 | 7.3 | 24 | 5.0 |
| Contact with other hot fluids (X12) | 410 | 19.1 | 307 | 18.5 | 193 | 17.9 | 92 | 19.3 |
| Contact with steam and hot vapours (X13) | 10 | 0.5 | 7 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Contact with hot air and gases (X14) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Contact with hot household appliances (X15) | 196 | 9.1 | 137 | 8.3 | 73 | 6.8 | 27 | 5.7 |
| Contact with hot heating appliances, radiators and pipes (X16) | 83 | 3.9 | 61 | 3.7 | 40 | 3.7 | 15 | 3.2 |
| Contact with hot engines, machinery and tools (X17) | 80 | 3.7 | 66 | 4.0 | 46 | 4.3 | 25 | 5.3 |
| Contact with other hot metals (X18) | 14 | 0.7 | 13 | 0.8 | 8 | 0.7 | 5 | 1.1 |
| Contact with other and unspecified heat and hot substances (X19) | 310 | 14.4 | 245 | 14.8 | 182 | 16.9 | 77 | 16.2 |
| Total body surface area affected | ||||||||
| Burn <10% | 2037 | 94.8 | 1582 | 95.2 | 1021 | 94.8 | 450 | 94.5 |
| Burn >10% | 58 | 2.7 | 39 | 2.4 | 27 | 2.5 | 16 | 3.4 |
| Unspecified | 53 | 2.5 | 40 | 2.4 | 29 | 2.7 | 10 | 2.1 |
| Principal burn type | ||||||||
| Head and neck (T20) | 391 | 18.2 | 293 | 17.6 | 169 | 15.7 | 68 | 14.3 |
| Trunk (T21) | 459 | 21.4 | 356 | 21.4 | 243 | 22.6 | 100 | 21.0 |
| Shoulder and upper limb, except wrist and hand (T22) | 265 | 12.3 | 193 | 11.6 | 121 | 11.2 | 51 | 10.7 |
| Wrist and hand (T23) | 516 | 24.0 | 379 | 22.8 | 216 | 20.1 | 90 | 18.9 |
| Hip and lower limb, except ankle and foot (T24) | 266 | 12.4 | 244 | 14.7 | 192 | 17.8 | 112 | 23.5 |
| Ankle and foot (T25) | 195 | 9.1 | 156 | 9.4 | 107 | 9.9 | 44 | 9.2 |
| Eye and adnexa (T26) | 19 | 0.9 | 14 | 0.8 | 10 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Respiratory tract (T27) | 3 | 0.1 | 3 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.4 |
| Other and unspecified internal organs (T28–T31) | 34 | 1.6 | 23 | 1.4 | 17 | 1.7 | 8 | 1.6 |
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |
| Time since index burn hospitalisation to NAPLAN assessment (months) | 68.0 | 25.2 | 86.4 | 30.7 | 97.4 | 39.7 | 68.0 | 25.2 |
NAPLA, National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy.