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The paper by Fergusson et al reporting the influence of Grandmothers
on child health raises some interesting issues. In the field of burns
care where the sequelae of the injury can be so devastating prevention is
of paramount importance. We have undertaken a retrospective review of all
the admissions to our paediatric burns unit for the year 1998. We
established either from a review of the records or direct contact the
principal carer at the time of the accident leading to the admission. Of
the 130 children admitted, the Grandparents were caring for 11. Ten of
these (91%) were in the toddler group (aged 0-2 years). Of these ten,
eight (80%) were boys and two (20%) were girls. Using Fischer's Exact
Test (two-tail) there was no significant difference between Grandparents
and parents as carers (P = 0.14684). The numbers, however, are small and
it is suggested that more cases need to be reviewed to establish a true
statistical interpretation of the results.
What does this mean from a point of view of prevention? Fergusson et
al suggest a potential health benefit from the involvement of grandmothers
in the care of children, however, this may not always be the case. Our
study is preliminary and whilst we established the age of the carer,
whether they were maternal or paternal grandparents and the occupation, or
previous occupation, of the person in question more data is needed to
target specific preventive education. We could say however that in the
field of burns prevention the adage, 'you can't teach granny to suck eggs'
may not hold true particularly where little boys are concerned!
1 Fergusson E , Li J, Taylor B. Grandmothers role in preventing
unnecessary accident and emergency attendance's: cohort study. BMJ 1998;
317:1685.
Mr T D D Cobley
Specialist Registrar
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Frenchay Healthcare NHS Trust
Bristol BS16 1LE
Dr Rungi Cai
Department of Computer Science
University of Bristol
BS8 1TH
Mr D A R Burd
Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Frenchay Healthcare NHS Trust
Bristol BSI6 1LE
Prevention strategies in paediatric burns care
Dear Sir
The paper by Fergusson et al reporting the influence of Grandmothers
on child health raises some interesting issues. In the field of burns
care where the sequelae of the injury can be so devastating prevention is
of paramount importance. We have undertaken a retrospective review of all
the admissions to our paediatric burns unit for the year 1998. We
established either from a review of the records or direct contact the
principal carer at the time of the accident leading to the admission. Of
the 130 children admitted, the Grandparents were caring for 11. Ten of
these (91%) were in the toddler group (aged 0-2 years). Of these ten,
eight (80%) were boys and two (20%) were girls. Using Fischer's Exact
Test (two-tail) there was no significant difference between Grandparents
and parents as carers (P = 0.14684). The numbers, however, are small and
it is suggested that more cases need to be reviewed to establish a true
statistical interpretation of the results.
What does this mean from a point of view of prevention? Fergusson et
al suggest a potential health benefit from the involvement of grandmothers
in the care of children, however, this may not always be the case. Our
study is preliminary and whilst we established the age of the carer,
whether they were maternal or paternal grandparents and the occupation, or
previous occupation, of the person in question more data is needed to
target specific preventive education. We could say however that in the
field of burns prevention the adage, 'you can't teach granny to suck eggs'
may not hold true particularly where little boys are concerned!
1 Fergusson E , Li J, Taylor B. Grandmothers role in preventing
unnecessary accident and emergency attendance's: cohort study. BMJ 1998;
317:1685.
Mr T D D Cobley
Specialist Registrar
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Frenchay Healthcare NHS Trust
Bristol BS16 1LE
Dr Rungi Cai
Department of Computer Science
University of Bristol
BS8 1TH
Mr D A R Burd
Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Frenchay Healthcare NHS Trust
Bristol BSI6 1LE
Competing interests: No competing interests