Analysis of 585 burn patients hospitalized over a 6-year period. Part I: Demographic comparison with the population of origin.

There has been a large number of studies on the epidemiology, aetiology and demography of burn injury. However, no previous study has been able to compare the burn population with detailed data on the general population from which it derived. Data on the Standard Metropolitan Area (SMSA) of San Diego provided by the US Census Reports of 1970 and 1980 have made this possible. In this paper we have examined age, sex, ethnic origin, level of education, gross family income and occupation in a population of 585 burn patients taken from this SMSA.