The impact of childhood burns on academic performance: A matched population-based cohort study

Background: Burn injuries can have a detrimental impact on a young person’s health and social development, which may affect their academic performance. This study aimed to compare academic performance and high school completion of young people hospitalised for a burn compared to young people not hospitalised for an injury. Methods: A population-based matched case-comparison cohort study of young people aged ≤18 years hospitalised for a burn during 2005-2018 in New South Wales, Australia using linked health and education records. Generalised linear mixed modelling examined risk of performance below the national minimum standard (NMS) on school assessments and generalised linear regression examined risk of not completing high school for young people hospitalised after a burn compared to matched peers. Results: Young people hospitalised with a burn were below the NMS for reading (ARR: 1.14; 95%CI 1.02-1.49) but not for numeracy (ARR: 1.15; 95%CI 0.94-1.42) when compared to matched peers. Females hospitalised for a burn had a 72% higher risk of poorer literacy compared to their peers (ARR: 1.72; 95%CI 1.33-2.23). Young people hospitalised with a burn had at least twice the risk of not completing Year 10 (ARR: 3.86; 95% CI 1.68-8.86), Year 11 (ARR: 2.45; 95%CI 1.89-3.18), and Year 12 (ARR: 2.09; 95%CI 1.63-2.67) compared to matched counterparts. Conclusions: Young people hospitalised with a burn displayed poorer academic performance for literacy compared to matched peers and are likely to leave school earlier. Identifying unmet learning support needs of young burn survivors should be investigated.