Table 1

Demographic and health characteristics of the burn and non-injury cohorts

CharacteristicsNo injury
N (%)
Burn injury
N (%)
p Value
Total123 39930 997
Demographic
 Indigenous status (yes)2993 (2.4)4481 (14.5)<0.001
Social disadvantage quintiles*
 Quintile 1 (most disadvantaged)14 597 (12.0)6579 (21.6)<0.001
 Quintile 228 339 (23.4)9878 (32.4)
 Quintile 322 142 (18.2)6354 (20.8)
 Quintile 421 671 (17.9)3833 (12.6)
 Quintile 5 (least disadvantaged)34 609 (28.5)3857 (12.6)
Remoteness†
 Major city88 278 (72.8)15 810 (51.7)<0.001
 Inner regional11 725 (9.7)3360 (11.0)
 Outer regional11 653 (9.6)4958 (16.2)
 Remote5897 (4.9)3434 (11.2)
 Very remote3697 (3.0)3011 (9.8)
Health status
 Any comorbidity‡4691 (3.8)3131 (10.1)<0.001
 Prior admission for nervous system disease§1474 (1.2)1732 (5.6)<0.001
Burn injury characteristics
%TBSA
 <20% minor14 854 (48)
 ≥20% severe911 (3)
 Unspecified15 232 (49)
Burn depth¶
 Full thickness4390 (14)
 Partial thickness12 307 (40)
 Erythema5335 (17)
 Unspecified9609 (31)
Site¶
 Head and neck6386 (21)
 Trunk7262 (23)
 Upper limbs/hands13 144 (42)
 Lower limbs/feet10 537 (34)
 Eyes2303 (7)
 Respiratory tract or other internal organs624 (2)
 Multiple sites1237 (4)
 Unspecified site904 (3)
  • *SEIFA socio-economic disadvantage quintiles; missing values 1.3% burn, 1.7% no injury.

  • †ARIA+remoteness classification; missing values 1.4% burn, 1.8% no injury.

  • ‡Any comorbidity based on Charlson comorbidity index with a 5-year look-back period.

  • §Principal diagnosis admission for nervous system disease with a 5-year look-back period.

  • ¶Multiple burn sites and depths may be coded.

  • ARIA, Accessibility/Remoteness Index for Australia; SEIFA, socio-economic indexes for areas; TBSA, total body surface area.