Table 1.
Baseline demographic and pre-existing health status factors for those with a first burn injury hospitalisation, and non-injured cohort, Western Australia, 2000–2012
| Characteristics | No injury N (%) | Injury N (%) | P value |
| Total | 60 823 | 34 754 | |
| Demographic | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 31 655 (52.0) | 18 380 (52.9) | 0.012 |
| Age | |||
| <60 | 12 970 (21.3) | 6458 (18.6) | <0.001 |
| 60–74 | 23 397 (38.5) | 11 636 (33.5) | |
| 75+ | 24 456 (40.2) | 16 660 (47.9) | |
| Social disadvantage quintiles* | |||
| Quintile 1. (Most disadvantaged) | 12 983 (21.4) | 7669 (22.1) | <0.001 |
| Quintile 2. | 13 183 (21.7) | 7244 (20.8) | |
| Quintile 3. | 11 086 (18.2) | 6242 (18.0) | |
| Quintile 4. | 10 075 (16.6) | 5609 (16.1) | |
| Quintile 5. (least disadvantaged) | 11 870 (19.5) | 7129 (20.5) | |
| Remoteness† | |||
| Major city | 31 381 (51.6) | 19 476 (56.0) | <0.001 |
| Inner regional | 21 579 (35,5) | 11 098 (31.9) | |
| Outer regional | 6231 (10.2) | 3293 (9.5) | |
| Remote | 465 (0.8) | 245 (0.7) | |
| Very remote | 67 (0.1) | 38 (0.1) | |
| Health status | |||
| Any comorbidity (CCI ≥1)‡ | 18 695 (30.7) | 14 603 (42.0) | <0.001 |
| Any circulatory system hospitalisation in previous 5 years | 15 893 (26.1) | 13 203 (38.0) | <0.001 |
| Any IHD hospitalisation in previous 5 years | 4735 (7.8) | 3971 (11.4) | <0.001 |
| Any cerebrovascular hospitalisation in previous 5 years | 1840 (3.0) | 2006 (5.8) | <0.001 |
| Any heart failure hospitalisation in previous 5 years | 2022 (3.3) | 2174 (6.3) | <0.001 |
| Self-reported information | |||
| Have diabetes | 5796 (9.5) | 4051 (11.7) | <0.001 |
| Had blood clot | 2826 (4.7) | 2333 (6.7) | 0.003 |
| High blood pressure | 23 605 (38.8) | 13 951 (40.1) | <0.001 |
| Heart disease | 8341 (13.7) | 5853 (16.8) | <0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2* | |||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 4934 (8.1) | 3299 (9.5) | <0.001 |
| Normal (18.5–25) | 20 915 (34.4) | 12 234 (35.2) | |
| Overweight (25–30) | 22 727 (37.4) | 12 195 (35.1) | |
| Obese class 1 (30–35) | 8582 (14.1) | 4704 (13.5) | |
| Obese class 2 (35–40) | 2272 (3.7) | 1429 (4.1) | |
| Obese class 3+ (40–50) | 844 (1.4) | 538 (1.6) | |
| Smoking and alcohol | |||
| Current smoker | 3660 (6.0) | 2309 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Previous smoker | 21 829 (35.9) | 12 710 (36.6) | |
| Never smoker | 35 334 (58.1) | 19 735 (56.8) | |
| 8+ drinks per week | 18 320 (30.2) | 10 278 (29.7) | 0.088 |
| Primary care (no of GP visits in previous year) | |||
| 0–3 | 15 115 (24.9) | 6559 (18.9) | <0.001 |
| 4–6 | 13 224 (21.7) | 5990 (17.2) | |
| 7–10 | 12 936 (21.3) | 6790 (19.5) | |
| 11–16 | 10 776 (17.7) | 6972 (20.1) | |
| 17+ | 8772 (14.4) | 8443 (24.3) | |
| Physical activity | |||
| Vigorous exercise in week | 16 574 (29.8) | 8984 (28.1) | <0.001 |
| Moderate only exercise in week | 27 482 (49.5) | 15 213 (47.6) | |
| No moderate or vigorous exercise in week | 11 478 (20.7) | 7793 (24.4) | |
| Family history | |||
| Heart disease | 27 847 (45.8) | 16 110 (46.4) | 0.089 |
| High blood pressure | 29 373 (48.3) | 15 870 (45.7) | <0.001 |
| Stroke | 16 248 (26.7) | 9351 (26.9) | 0.518 |
| PBS medication use in 4 months prior to injury (ATC code) | |||
| Alimentary tract/metabolism (A) | 21 972 (36.1) | 15 013 (43.2) | <0.001 |
| Blood/blood forming | 5637 (9.3) | 5437 (15.6) | <0.001 |
| Platelet aggregation inhibitors (B) | 5473 (9.0) | 4323 (12.4) | <0.001 |
| Cardiovascular medications (C) | 34 973 (57.5) | 21 142 (60.8) | <0.001 |
| Cardiac therapy | 4556 (7.5) | 3770 (10.9) | <0.001 |
| Antihypertensives | 1805 (3.0) | 1155 (3.3) | 0.002 |
| Diuretics | 5178 (8.5) | 4459 (12.8) | <0.001 |
| Peripheral vasodilators | 0 | 0 | – |
| Vasoprotectives | 0 | 0 | – |
| Beta blockers | 8193 (13.5) | 5514 (15.9) | <0.001 |
| Calcium channel blockers | 7832 (12.9) | 5081 (14.6) | <0.001 |
| Renin/angiotensin agents | 22 917 (37.7) | 13 308 (38.3) | 0.06 |
| Lipid-modifying agents | 22 136 (36.4) | 13 244 (38.1) | <0.001 |
| Dermatologicals (D) | 4610 (7.6) | 3204 (9.2) | <0.001 |
| Genitourinary (G) | 3762 (6.2) | 2344 (6.7) | 0.001 |
| Hormonal (H) | 5553 (9.1) | 4262 (12.3) | <0.001 |
| Anti-infectives (J) | 14 621 (24.0) | 11 094 (31.9) | <0.001 |
| Antineoplastic/immune modulating drugs (L) | 2363 (3.9) | 1600 (4.6) | <0.001 |
| Musculoskeletal (M) | 11 293 (18.6) | 8287 (23.8) | <0.001 |
| Nervous system (N) | 18 901 (31.1) | 16 205 (46.6) | <0.001 |
| Antiparasitics (P) | 86 (0.1) | 77 (0.2) | 0.004 |
| Respiratory (R) | 7095 (11.7) | 5056 (14.6) | <0.001 |
| Sensory organs (S) | 9262 (15.2) | 6512 (18.7) | <0.001 |
| Various (V) | 396 (0.6) | 323 (0.9) | <0.001 |
*Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) socioeconomic disadvantage quintiles; missing values 2.5% injury, 2.7% no injury.
†Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) remoteness classification; missing values 1.7% injury, 1.8% no injury.
‡Based on derived Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) using 5-year look-back hospitalisations.
ATC, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification; BMI, body mas index; GP, general pratictioner; IHD, ischaemic heart disease; PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.