Characteristics of study participants according to pain category
| Demographic and clinical variables | Sub-classification | Mild pain n=1477 N (%) | Moderate pain n=504 N (%) | Severe pain n=32 N (%) |
| Age (years) | Median (IQR) | 3 (1–8) | 3 (1–6) | 3 (1–6) |
| TBSA (%) | Median (IQR) | 1 (1–1) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) |
| Time to QCH (days) | Median (1QR) | 3 (0–5) | 3 (0–4) | 3 (0.5–3) |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 862 (73.6) | 292 (24.9) | 18 (1.5) | |
| Female | 615 (73.1) | 212 (25.2) | 14 (1.7) | |
| Indigenous status | ||||
| Not indigenous | 1319 (73) | 459 (25.4) | 30 (1.7) | |
| ATSI | 122 (75.8) | 37 (23.0) | 2 (1.2) | |
| Missing data | 44 (2.2) | |||
| Burn mechanism | ||||
| Scald | 620 (71.5) | 234 (27.0) | 13 (1.5%) | |
| Contact | 675 (74.7) | 217 (24.0) | 12 (1.3) | |
| Flame | 55 (68.8) | 22 (27.5) | 3 (3.8) | |
| Friction | 66 (75.9) | 20 (23.0) | 1 (1.1) | |
| Chemical | 26 (83.87) | 3 (9.68) | 2 (6.45) | |
| Cooling | 5 (71.43) | 2 (28.57) | 0 | |
| Radiant heat | 30 (81.1) | 6 (16.2) | 1 (2.7) | |
| Burn depth | ||||
| Superficial | 110 (90.9) | 11 (9.1) | 0 | |
| Superficial partial-thickness | 1164 (75.6) | 355 (23) | 21 (1.4) | |
| Deep dermal partial-thickness | 180 (56.8) | 126 (39.7) | 11 (3.5) | |
| Full thickness | 23 (65.7) | 12 (34.3) | 0 | |
| Adequate first aid | ||||
| Yes | 958 (72.0) | 351 (26.4) | 22 (1.6) | |
| No | 48 (80) | 12 (20) | 0 | |
| Undocumented cooling time | 471 (75.7) | 141 (22.7) | 10 (1.6) | |
| Ambulance transport | ||||
| Yes | 354 (70.5) | 138 (27.5) | 10 (2.0) | |
| No | 1123 (74.3) | 366 (24.2) | 22 (1.5) | |
| Anatomical location burned | ||||
| Upper limb | 289 (71) | 108 (26.5) | 10 (2.5) | |
| Lower limb | 272 (72.9) | 98 (26.3) | 3 (0.8) | |
| Hand | 567 (70.7) | 220 (27.4) | 15 (1.9) | |
| Foot | 153 (66.2) | 74 (32) | 4 (1.7) | |
| Head/neck | 171 (73.7) | 54 (23.3) | 7 (3.0) | |
| Back | 62 (74.7) | 18 (21.7) | 3 (3.6) | |
| Chest/breast | 186 (68.4) | 80 (29.4) | 6 (2.2) | |
| Abdomen | 120 (69) | 48 (27.6) | 6 (3.4) | |
| Perineum | 19 (73.1) | 6 (23.1) | 1 (3.8) | |
| Buttocks | 27 (69.2) | 11 (28.2) | 1 (2.6) | |
| Face/scalp | 17 (70.8) | 7 (29.2) | 0 | |
| No of anatomical regions burned | ||||
| 1 | 1171 (76.2) | 349 (22.7) | 17 (1.1) | |
| 2 | 221 (66.4) | 102 (30.6) | 10 (3.0) | |
| 3 | 74 (62.2) | 43 (36.1) | 2 (1.7) | |
| 4+ | 11 (45.8) | 10 (41.7) | 3 (12.5) | |
| Required analgesia | ||||
| Ibuprofen | 837 (66.3) | 401 (31.8) | 24 (1.9) | |
| Paracetamol | 1023 (67.4) | 463 (30.5) | 31 (2.0) | |
| Oxycodone | 811 (64.9) | 411 (32.9) | 28 (2.2) | |
| Midazolam | 7 (36.8) | 12 (63.2) | 0 | |
| Nitrous oxide | 5 (22.7) | 14 (63.6) | 3 (13.6) | |
| Fentanyl | 9 (33.3) | 14 (51.9) | 4 (14.8) | |
| Sucrose (infants and neonates) | 8 (80) | 2 (20) | 0 | |
| Burns OPD referral source | ||||
| QCH ED | 550 (76) | 163 (22.5) | 11 (1.5) | |
| Other hospital | 785 (70.1) | 316 (28.2) | 19 (1.7) | |
| Self-referral | 24 (80) | 4 (13.3) | 2 (6.7) | |
| General practitioner | 91 (84.3) | 17 (15.7) | 0 | |
| Other | 27 (87.1) | 4 (12.9) | 0 | |
| Baseline pain (0–10 scale) | Median (IQR) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) |
| Peak pain (0–10 scale) | Median (IQR) | 1 (0–1) | 3 (3–4) | 8 (7–9.8) |
N, number of participants; TBSA, total body surface area; OPD, outpatient department; QCH, Queensland Children’s Hospital; ED, emergency department.