Rural and metropolitan pediatric burns in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory: does distance make a difference?

To determine if differences exist between children who sustain burns in rural areas and in metropolitan areas, an analysis of children presenting to the Burns Unit at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, from the January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012 was performed. In all, 4326 children met the inclusion criteria, of which 21.2% came from rural regions. Just more than a quarter (26.0%) of rural children and 11.6% from metropolitan areas were Indigenous Australian (P 24 hours (15.9% metropolitan; P = 0.0001). Significant differences exist between burns sustained by rural and metropolitan children. This should be accounted for in burns prevention campaigns and the education of local health practitioners. Language: en