Burns and Scalds Assessment Template: standardising clinical assessment of childhood burns in the emergency department

Hepburn, Kirsty, Bennett, Verity ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9311-4124, Kemp, Alison Mary ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1359-7948, Hollen, Linda Irene, Nuttall, Diane, Roberts, Zoe, Farrell, David and Mullen, Stephen 2020. Burns and Scalds Assessment Template: standardising clinical assessment of childhood burns in the emergency department. Emergency Medicine Journal 37 (6) , pp. 351-354. 10.1136/emermed-2019-208595

Preview

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (196kB) | Preview

Abstract

Objectives The Burns and Scalds Assessment Template (BaSAT) is an evidence-based proforma coproduced by researchers and ED staff with the aim of (1) standardising the assessment of children attending ED with a burn, (2) improving documentation and (3) screening for child maltreatment. This study aimed to test whether the BaSAT improved documentation of clinical, contributory and causal factors of children’s burns. Methods A retrospective before-and-after study compared the extent to which information was recorded for 37 data fields after the BaSAT was introduced in one paediatric ED. Pre-BaSAT, a convenience sample of 50 patient records of children who had a burn was obtained from the hospital electronic database of 2007. The post-BaSAT sample included 50 randomly selected case notes from 2016/2017 that were part of another research project. Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to test for statistical significance. Results Pre-BaSAT, documentation of key data fields was poor. Post-BaSAT, this varied less between patients, and median completeness significantly (p<0.001) increased from 44% (IQR 4%–94%) to 96% (IQR 94%–100%). Information on ‘screening for maltreatment, referrals to social care and outcome’ was poorly recorded pre-BaSAT (median of 4% completed fields) and showed the greatest overall improvement (to 95%, p<0.001). Documentation of domestic violence at home and child’s ethnicity improved significantly (p<0.001) post-BaSAT; however, these were still not recorded in 36% and 56% of cases, respectively. Conclusion Introduction of the BaSAT significantly improved and standardised the key clinical data routinely recorded for children attending ED with a burn.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN:	1472-0205
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 April 2022
Date of Acceptance:	14 March 2020
Last Modified:	15 May 2023 08:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/136253

Citation Data

Cited 2 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item