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Oven and stove related burns and scalds in the home (all ages)
July 2008
For the five years between July 1 st 2002 and June 30 th 2007, there were at least 487 presentations to emergency departments in Victoria for burns and scalds related to domestic ovens or stoves. This represents on average 97 cases per year, or just under two per week.
Table 1: Burns and scalds from domestic ovens and stoves by year (all ages)
Year |
Frequency |
Percentage |
2002/03 |
86 |
18% |
2003/04 |
98 |
20% |
2004/05 |
103 |
21% |
2005/06 |
114 |
23% |
2006/07 |
86 |
18% |
Total |
487 |
100% |
Source: VEMD, July 2002 - July 2007
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Age: Infants aged 4 years or younger were most commonly affected by burns and scalds related to cooking appliances in the home, with this age group accounting for 39 percent of all such emergency department presentations (Figure 1). The next-most commonly affected age groups were 20 to 24 year olds (8%) and 40 to 44 year olds (7%).
Gender: Injury patterns were similar in males and females in general: females accounted for 52% of cases across all age groups.
However, as can be seen in figure 1 (over page), the split in injury frequency between the sexes is not so even when age is also taken into account. In the 0-4 age group the ration was 1.7 males for every female, yet in all age groups above 35 years old more females were injured than males.
Cause: As figure 2 shows, nearly three quarters of cases were due to burns from contact with a hot object or surface (73%), with the remainder due to scalds (17%) or exposure to fire, flames or smoke (10%).
Body region: The body regions most frequently injured were the hands/fingers (53%), followed by the forearms and wrists (12%), and the face and head (10%). Injury to multiple body sites were recorded in 6% of cases. |
Appliance involved : An analysis of narrative case data indicated that just over half the cases were related to ovens (51%), with the remainder related to stovetops (49%).
Source: VEMD, July 2002 - Jun 2007
Figure 1: Burns and scalds from domestic ovens by age and gender
Injury prevention: Many oven and stove related burns occur in the kitchen during the evening meal time (5 to 8pm). To reduce the chance of small children injuring themselves on hot cookware, remove them from the kitchen during meal preparations or physically separate them from the hazard.
Try restraining younger children in a high chair or playpen, use kitchen gates to keep them out of the kitchen altogether and install stove and oven guards. Other simple measures which may help are cooking on the back burners only and turning pot handles out of reach.
The use of new kitchen appliance technologies (such as cool touch cooktops and stoves) and the expanded use of stove guards should reduce the potential of burn injuries in young and old alike. |
Source: VEMD, July 2002 - Jun 2007
Figure 2: Burns and scalds from domestic ovens and stoves by type |
Further information: For further data on burns and scalds in the home access Hazard edition 57 at: www.monash.edu.au/muarc/VISU/hazard/haz57.pdf
Data source: Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) July 2002 – July 2007 (5 years)
Restrictions: Any values less than 5 have been excluded from figures to protect patient confidentiality.
Search Strategy: Burns and scalds associated with domestic ovens were identified through a text search of VEMD emergency department presentation narratives for the terms "oven and stove", the location "home", and the injury causes "fire/flame”, “scald” and “contact burn”. Narratives were manually checked and any irrelevant cases were excluded prior to analysis. |
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