• Holger Möller, Lara Harvey, Kathleen Falster, Rebecca Ivers, Kathleen F Clapham, and Louisa Jorm.
• Centre for Big Data Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW holger@unsw.edu.au.
• Med. J. Aust. 2017 May 15; 206 (9): 392-397.

ObjectiveTo investigate differences in the characteristics of burn injuries leading to hospitalisation of Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous children in New South Wales.Design, setting: Population-based cohort analysis of linked hospital and mortality data for 2000-2014.Participants35 749 Indigenous and 1 088 938 non-Indigenous children aged 0-13 years.Main Outcome MeasuresThe external cause of the injury, its anatomic location, total body surface area affected (%TBSA), burn depth, length of hospital stay (LOS).Results4246 non-Indigenous and 323 Indigenous children were hospitalised for a first burn injury during 2000-2014. A higher proportion of Indigenous than non-Indigenous children were admitted with burns affecting more than 10% TBSA (17% v 12%) and a lower proportion of Indigenous children than of non-Indigenous children were treated at a hospital with a paediatric tertiary referral burn unit (40% v 50%; P < 0.001). The mean LOS during the index admission was almost 3 days longer for Indigenous children than for non-Indigenous children (6.1 days [95% CI, 4.8-7.4 days] v 3.4 days [95% CI, 3.2-3.7 days]; P < 0.001); the difference in LOS was still statistically significant after adjusting for characteristics of the burn and residential location.ConclusionThe proportion of Indigenous children with burns who presented with burn injuries affecting more than 10% TBSA was greater than for non-Indigenous children. Their mean LOS was also longer; the difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for characteristics of the burn and of residential location.

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