RESEARCH ROUNDUP

Each year globally, burns cause the deaths of around 96 000 people aged under 20 years, with children especially susceptible. This is cited by van Balen et al (2023), whose review considers the effectiveness of preventive programmes on the actual rate of burn injuries among those aged up to 19 years old.

Fourteen relevant studies were evaluated, nine of which reported a significant reduction in burn injury rate, with five showing no effect on the number of burn injuries. Those studies that focused on high-risk populations and combined active with passive preventive strategies were found to be successful. One reason that media campaigns alone are ineffective appears to be related to the size of the target group. In smaller study populations, target groups are more involved in burn prevention programmes, with interventions directly targeted at the study populations. By contrast, in larger study populations targeted by preventive strategies like media campaigns, it can be difficult for the preventive measures to reach the whole target group, thus impairing a programme's effectiveness.