Has the energy poverty crisis fuelled a rise in hot water bottle burn injuries within the United Kingdom?

IF 3.2 3区医学 Q2 CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE Burns Pub Date : 2024-09-24 DOI:10.1016/j.burns.2024.09.014

Mr Howard Chu, Laveena Yarlagadda, Mr Christopher Wearn

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Abstract

Introduction: There are an estimated 10 million hot water bottles (HWB) currently in use within the United Kingdom (UK), and HWB related burn injuries represent a significant resource burden to UK Burns Services. These injuries can be caused through a variety of mechanisms including scalds sustained when filling the bottle or scalds from leaking or rupture. The fuel poverty crisis started in February 2022 leading to an estimated six-fold increase in alternative sources of heating, in particular hot water bottles. In this study, we wish to understand the impact that this may have had upon burn injuries sustained by these products.

Methods: All hot water bottle (HWB)-related injuries sustained January 2014 - February 2023 were retrieved from the UK International Burn Injury Database (IBID). Data were collected on patient demographics, injury mechanism, anatomical location, and clinical outcomes. The data were collated and analysed; statistical analysis was performed using R StudioTM. Patient levelling costs were also incorporated to enable translation of these data into healthcare costs.

Results: A total of 5944 HWB-related burn injuries were recorded in the IBID database in England and Wales, from 2014 to 2023, with a mean of 594 (SD 146.2) burn injuries annually, costing an estimated £ 12.7 million. There were 423 burn injuries sustained from HWB in winter 2022 compared to 295 in winter 2021, representing a 43.4 % increase over one year, with a corresponding increase of 43.1 % in the number of patients managed in an outpatient setting. The largest increase in burn incidence between winter 2021 and winter 2022 was seen in children (0-16 years old) and older adults (greater than 65 years old) with a rise of 60.3 % (n = 41) and 68.5 % (n = 37) respectively.

Conclusion: Our epidemiological study on hot water bottle (HWB)-related burn injuries within the United Kingdom has shown that the dramatic rise in fuel prices, which sparked the fuel poverty crises, has coincided with a 43.4 % increase in HWB burns incidence on the health service in that year alone. This alarming rise in HWB-related injuries highlights the continued need for targeted public awareness campaigns to ensure a safe and proper use of these devices.

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能源贫困危机是否加剧了英国热水瓶烫伤事件的增加？

导言：据估计，英国目前使用的热水瓶（HWB）有 1000 万个，与热水瓶相关的烧伤给英国烧伤服务部门造成了巨大的资源负担。造成这些伤害的原因多种多样，包括装热水瓶时烫伤、热水瓶泄漏或破裂烫伤。燃料贫困危机始于 2022 年 2 月，据估计，替代供暖来源（尤其是热水瓶）增加了六倍。在这项研究中，我们希望了解这种情况对这些产品造成的烧伤的影响：从英国国际烧伤数据库（IBID）中检索了 2014 年 1 月至 2023 年 2 月期间发生的所有与热水瓶（HWB）相关的烧伤。收集的数据包括患者人口统计学特征、受伤机制、解剖位置和临床结果。对数据进行了整理和分析；使用 R StudioTM 进行了统计分析。此外，还纳入了患者平摊成本，以便将这些数据转化为医疗成本：从 2014 年到 2023 年，英格兰和威尔士的 IBID 数据库共记录了 5944 例与 HWB 相关的烧伤，平均每年有 594 例（标准差 146.2）烧伤，估计花费 1270 万英镑。与 2021 年冬季的 295 例烧伤相比，2022 年冬季因 HWB 造成的烧伤为 423 例，一年内增加了 43.4%，门诊治疗的患者人数也相应增加了 43.1%。2021年冬季和2022年冬季烧伤发病率增幅最大的是儿童（0-16岁）和老年人（65岁以上），增幅分别为60.3%（41人）和68.5%（37人）：我们对英国国内与热水瓶有关的烧伤进行的流行病学研究表明，燃料价格的大幅上涨引发了燃料贫困危机，与此同时，仅在当年，医疗服务中的热水瓶烧伤发生率就增加了 43.4%。与 HWB 相关的伤害事故的惊人增长突出表明，仍有必要开展有针对性的公众宣传活动，以确保安全、正确地使用这些设备。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Burns 医学-皮肤病学

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

18.50%

发文量

304

审稿时长

72 days

期刊介绍： Burns aims to foster the exchange of information among all engaged in preventing and treating the effects of burns. The journal focuses on clinical, scientific and social aspects of these injuries and covers the prevention of the injury, the epidemiology of such injuries and all aspects of treatment including development of new techniques and technologies and verification of existing ones. Regular features include clinical and scientific papers, state of the art reviews and descriptions of burn-care in practice. Topics covered by Burns include: the effects of smoke on man and animals, their tissues and cells; the responses to and treatment of patients and animals with chemical injuries to the skin; the biological and clinical effects of cold injuries; surgical techniques which are, or may be relevant to the treatment of burned patients during the acute or reconstructive phase following injury; well controlled laboratory studies of the effectiveness of anti-microbial agents on infection and new materials on scarring and healing; inflammatory responses to injury, effectiveness of related agents and other compounds used to modify the physiological and cellular responses to the injury; experimental studies of burns and the outcome of burn wound healing; regenerative medicine concerning the skin.