Psychopathology and psychological problems in patients with burn scars: epidemiology and management

Acute burns of the hands - physiotherapy perspective

BACKGROUND

Acute burns of the hands are complex and may impact on various aspects of a person's life. Physiotherapy rehabilitation and restoration of hand function is critical for the patient's independence and re-integration into society.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of physiotherapists in the management of patients with their hand burn injuries.

METHOD

Five focus groups consisting of physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants working with burn injured patients from each of the five selected public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal were recruited. An explorative qualitative approach was adopted.

RESULTS

Physiotherapists emphasised that the acute management of the hand was trivialised due to a primary focus on the survival of the burn sufferer. Therapists identified several factors that determined the patients' level of participation and motivation in therapy one of which was the procedural pain experienced. The role of the therapists' within the rehabilitation framework was found to be critical to their recovery however there appeared to be a breakdown in the collaboration and communication among health care professionals to the detriment of effective intervention.

CONCLUSION

A multidisciplinary team approach is the foundation in the management of acute burn injuries and during the trajectory of the trauma care continuum.

The Importance of Hand Appearance as a Patient-Reported Outcome in Hand Surgery

Hand appearance is meaningful to patients because hands are an essential part of human interactions, communication, and social integration. Recent literature indicates that hand aesthetics is an important, measurable patient-reported outcome. In hand surgery, several outcome instruments exist that accurately measure functional outcomes, but aesthetics is often overlooked or imprecisely measured. This makes comparison of disease burden and effectiveness of therapies, as they pertain to aesthetics, difficult. This special topic article outlines the aesthetic features of the hand, how literature is evaluating the appearance of the hand in outcomes research, and proposes a novel approach to assessing hand aesthetics.

An expanded delivery model for outpatient burn rehabilitation

Despite the numerous multidisciplinary services burn centers provide, a number of challenges to obtaining optimal outcomes exist. The goal of this study was to overcome the barriers to effective burn rehabilitation by utilizing an expanded care coordinator (ECC) to supplement the existing outpatient services. In this between-group, single-blind, randomized, controlled trial, the control group (n = 41) received standard outpatient care and the experimental group (n = 40) received additional services provided by the ECC, including telephone calls at set intervals (24 hours postdischarge, 2, 4, 8, 12 weeks postdischarge and 5, 7, 9 months postdischarge). The ECC was trained in motivational interviewing, crisis intervention, and solution-focused counseling. He assisted patients before and after each clinic visit, coordinated outpatient services in their geographic area (physical and occupational therapy, counseling, primary care provider referrals, etc.), and helped develop problem-solving approaches to accomplish individualized goals. Outcome measures included patient identified goals utilizing the goal attainment scale, the urn-specific health scale-brief, the Short Form 12, a patient satisfaction survey, and a return to work survey. The average subject age was 43 years (SD = 16.9) with a mean TBSA of 19% (SD = 18.8). The average length of hospitalization was 36 days (SD = 42.9). The patient and injury characteristics were similar between the study groups. For the experimental group, 33% completed seven calls, with 23% completing all the eight calls. All were assessed using general linear models and were adjusted for sex, age, length of hospitalization, urban vs rural area of residence, %TBSA burn, and ethnicity. There was no difference between the control and experimental groups for any of the outcome measures at either 6 or 12 months postburn. No differences in outcomes between the groups were found. All participants appreciated the individualized goal setting process that was used as an outcome measure and this may have accounted for the similar outcomes in both the groups. (The measure may have been more of an intervention, thus contributing to the strength of the control group.) Although most patients with burn injuries may not need an intervention that is this intensive, a subset of patients at higher risk or with more severe injuries may benefit from more intensive and personalized services. Future research should examine the benefits of individual goal setting processes for all the patients and also attempt to identify those patients most at risk for poorer outcomes and therefore, likely to benefit of more intensive personalized services.

Tissue engineering in burn scar reconstruction

Nowadays, most patients with severe burns will survive their injury. This evolution is accompanied by the challenge to cover a large percentage of total body surface area burned. Consequently, more and more patients have to deal with the sequelae of burn scars and require (multiple) reconstructions. This review provides a gross overview of developments in the field of tissue engineering for permanent burn wound coverage and reconstructive burn surgery, focusing on usage and clinical effectiveness. Not only skin substitutes will be discussed but also the replacement of subcutaneous fat tissue and cartilage.

Outcome of Burns Treated With Autologous Cultured Proliferating Epidermal Cells: A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Intrapatient Comparative Trial

Standard treatment for large burns is transplantation with meshed split skin autografts (SSGs). A disadvantage of this treatment is that healing is accompanied by scar formation. Application of autologous epidermal cells (keratinocytes and melanocytes) may be a suitable therapeutic alternative, since this may enhance wound closure and improve scar quality. A prospective, multicenter randomized clinical trial was performed in 40 adult patients with acute full thickness burns. On two comparable wound areas, conventional treatment with SSGs was compared to an experimental treatment consisting of SSGs in combination with cultured autologous epidermal cells (ECs) seeded in a collagen carrier. The primary outcome measure was wound closure after 5-7 days. Secondary outcomes were safety aspects and scar quality measured by graft take, scar score (POSAS), skin colorimeter (DermaSpectrometer) and elasticity (Cutometer). Wound epithelialization after 5-7 days was significantly better for the experimental treatment (71%) compared to the standard treatment (67%) (p = 0.034, Wilcoxon), whereas the take rates of the grafts were similar. No related adverse events were recorded. Scar quality was evaluated at 3 (n = 33) and 12 (n = 28) months. The POSAS of the observer after 3 and 12 months and of the patient after 12 months were significantly better for the experimental area. Improvements between 12% and 23% (p ≤ 0.010, Wilcoxon) were detected for redness, pigmentation, thickness, relief, and pliability. Melanin index at 3 and 12 months and erythema index at 12 months were closer to normal skin for the experimental treatment than for conventional treatment (p ≤ 0.025 paired samples t-test). Skin elasticity showed significantly higher elasticity (p = 0.030) in the experimental area at 3 months follow-up. We showed a safe application and significant improvements of wound healing and scar quality in burn patients after treatment with ECs versus SSGs only. The relevance of cultured autologous cells in treatment of extensive burns is supported by our current findings.

The patient-body relationship and the "lived experience" of a facial burn injury: a phenomenological inquiry of early psychosocial adjustment

Background

Throughout development and into adulthood, a person’s face is the central focus for interpersonal communication, providing an important insight into one’s identity, age, sociocultural background, and emotional state. The face facilitates important social, including nonverbal, communication. Therefore, sustaining a severe burn, and in particular a facial burn, is a devastating and traumatizing injury. Burn survivors may encounter unique psychosocial problems and experience higher rates of psychosocial maladjustment, although there may be a number of potentially mediating factors.

Objectives

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the early recovery experience of patients with a facial burn. In particular, this study focused on how the injury impacted on the participants’ relationship with their own body and the challenges of early psychosocial adjustment within the first 4 months of sustaining the injury.

Methods

In 2011, six adult participants encompassing two females and four males ranging from 29 to 55 years of age with superficial to deep dermal facial burns (with background burns of 0.8%–55% total body surface area) were recruited from a severe burn injury unit in Australia for participation in a Burns Modified Adult Attachment Interview. Narrative data were analyzed thematically and informed by Colaizzi’s method of data analysis.

Results

Three overarching themes emerged: relationship to self/other, coping, and meaning-making. Themes identified related to how the experience affected the participants’ sense of relationship with their own bodies and with others, as well as other challenges of early psychosocial adjustment. All participants indicated that they had experienced some early changes in their relationship with their body following their burn injury.

Conclusion

These findings highlight the struggle burn survivors experienced with postburn adjustment, but expressed altruism and optimism around their recovery. Past trauma was observed to be a significant finding in this sample. Understanding the “lived experience” supports the way clinical and family systems can foster positive adjustment and coping. Consequently, multidisciplinary burn teams and health care professionals need to understand the principles of trauma-informed care and translate these into practice in the treatment of this group of patients.

A comprehensive evidence-based review on the role of topicals and dressings in the management of skin scarring

Wound healing after dermal injury is an imperfect process, inevitably leading to scar formation as the skin re-establishes its integrity. The resulting scars have different characteristics to normal skin, ranging from fine-line asymptomatic scars to problematic scarring including hypertrophic and keloid scars. Scars appear as a different colour to the surrounding skin and can be flat, stretched, depressed or raised, manifesting a range of symptoms including inflammation, erythema, dryness and pruritus, which can result in significant psychosocial impact on patients and their quality of life. In this paper, a comprehensive literature review coupled with an analysis of levels of evidence (LOE) for each published treatment type was conducted. Topical treatments identified include imiquimod, mitomycin C and plant extracts such as onion extract, green tea, Aloe vera, vitamin E and D, applied to healing wounds, mature scar tissue or fibrotic scars following revision surgery, or in combination with other more established treatments such as steroid injections and silicone. In total, 39 articles were included, involving 1703 patients. There was limited clinical evidence to support their efficacy; the majority of articles (n = 23) were ranked as category 4 LOE, being of limited quality with individual flaws, including low patient numbers, poor randomisation, blinding, and short follow-up periods. As trials were performed in different settings, they were difficult to compare. In conclusion, there is an unmet clinical need for effective solutions to skin scarring, more robust long-term randomised trials and a consensus on a standardised treatment regime to address all aspects of scarring.

Validation of the Brazilian version of the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B-Br)

INTRODUCTION

Progressive increases in survival rates from burn trauma have shifted attention to patient rehabilitation and posttraumatic quality of life. The assessment of quality of life is strongly dependent on reliable instruments for its measurement. A literature review has revealed that the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) questionnaire is the most commonly used instrument worldwide.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to translate the BSHS-B into the Portuguese language, adapt it culturally to the Brazilian population, and test its psychometric properties.

METHODS

The questionnaire was translated into Portuguese; culturally adapted; and tested for reproducibility, face validity, content validity, and construct validity. The translated version was tested on 92 patients with burns. Internal consistency was tested by means of Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was performed by correlating the BSHS-B questionnaire with the Burn Specific Health Scale-Revised (BSHS-R), BurnSexQ-Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM)/Universidade Federal De São Paulo (UNIFESP), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. The Pearson correlation coefficients were significant at three time points of the reliability analysis. A significant correlation was observed between BSHS-B domains and BSHS-R, and between RSES and BDI domains. A significant correlation was also observed between BSHS-B and the BurnSexQ-EPM/UNIFESP social comfort and body image domains.

CONCLUSION

The BSHS-B questionnaire was translated into Portuguese. It is a reliable tool in this language, showing face, content, and construct validity. The modified instrument has been named BSHS-B-Br.

Have we really decreased mortality due to severe burn injury in children?

In developed countries, in the twenty-first century, severe, large total body surface area (TBSA) burn injuries in children are rare. Prevention campaigns, education and public health interventions have significantly decreased the number of children sustaining burn injuries as well as the severity of such injuries. Many technological medical and surgical advances have been developed in burn care over the past several decades, increasing survival. Despite these interventions, long-term survival post burn injury may still be significantly reduced.

Preserving self-concept in the burn survivors: a qualitative study

Background:

Burn injury is a devastating experience affecting all aspects of a person's essence, including his/her identity and perception. These patients require complex cognitive efforts to redefine their identity to deal with difficult condition after burn injury and preserve self-concept. The experience of life after burn injury is generally a solitary one, closely related to the patients’ cultural and religious context. Therefore, this study was conducted aiming at investigating burn patients’ experiences regarding how to preserve self-concept in life after burn injury in Iran.

Materials and Methods:

This qualitative study was carried out using qualitative content analysis and in-depth unstructured interviews with 17 surviving burn subjects.

Results:

During the qualitative content analysis process, the concept of “locating” as the essence of the participants’ experience was extracted as follows: (A) self-exploration (exploring the changes in one's life), (B) others’ exploration (exploring the changes in the life of family members and the relationship between self and others), (C) position evaluation (self-position analysis), and (D) self-concept preservation.

Conclusion:

The present study has developed new understandings of mental experiences of burn patients’ self-concept by describing the concept of “self-locating”. It helps us in classifying and understanding the concepts described in comprehensive theories developed in this area. They do this by focusing on what burn patients experience for choosing self-preservation strategies and having a meaningful life. The finding can be used as a conceptual framework for palliative care program in Iran.

Progress towards cell-based burn wound treatments

Cell therapy as part of the concept of regenerative medicine represents an upcoming platform technology. Although cultured epidermal cells have been used in burn treatment for decades, new developments have renewed the interest in this type of treatment. Whereas early results were hampered by long culture times in order to produce confluent sheets of keratinocytes, undifferentiated proliferating cells can nowadays be applied on burns with different application techniques. The application of cells on carriers has improved early as well as long-term results in experimental settings. The results of several commercially available epidermal substitutes for burn wound treatment are reviewed in this article. These data clearly demonstrate a lack of randomized comparative trials and application of measurable outcome parameters. Experimental research in culture systems and animal models has demonstrated new developments and proof of concepts of further improvements in epidermal coverage. These include combinations of epidermal cells and mesenchymal stem cells, and the guidance of both material and cell interactions towards regeneration of skin appendages as well as vascular and nerve structures.

Analyzing small data sets using Bayesian estimation: the case of posttraumatic stress symptoms following mechanical ventilation in burn survivors

Background : The analysis of small data sets in longitudinal studies can lead to power issues and often suffers from biased parameter values. These issues can be solved by using Bayesian estimation in conjunction with informative prior distributions. By means of a simulation study and an empirical example concerning posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following mechanical ventilation in burn survivors, we demonstrate the advantages and potential pitfalls of using Bayesian estimation. Methods : First, we show how to specify prior distributions and by means of a sensitivity analysis we demonstrate how to check the exact influence of the prior (mis-) specification. Thereafter, we show by means of a simulation the situations in which the Bayesian approach outperforms the default, maximum likelihood and approach. Finally, we re-analyze empirical data on burn survivors which provided preliminary evidence of an aversive influence of a period of mechanical ventilation on the course of PTSS following burns. Results : Not suprisingly, maximum likelihood estimation showed insufficient coverage as well as power with very small samples. Only when Bayesian analysis, in conjunction with informative priors, was used power increased to acceptable levels. As expected, we showed that the smaller the sample size the more the results rely on the prior specification. Conclusion : We show that two issues often encountered during analysis of small samples, power and biased parameters, can be solved by including prior information into Bayesian analysis. We argue that the use of informative priors should always be reported together with a sensitivity analysis.

Burn Survivors' Experience of Core Outcomes during Return to Life: a Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION

Burn is one of the main and common health problems that face the victims with significant challenges in their lives. The main purpose of caring and rehabilitating these people is returning them to their previous life situation. Thus, the present study was conducted with the purpose of determining the experience of burn survivors with regard to returning to life in order to be able to obtain new concepts of acceptable implications in the present cultural and religious context.

METHODS

The present study is a qualitative study that was conducted using qualitative content analysis and in-depth unstructured interviews with 15 burn survivors in 2012 and 2013 in Tabriz.

RESULTS

During the process of qualitative analysis, the content of the category "balance", as the core essence of the experience of participants, was extracted according to three sub-categories: a- the physical integration (physiological stability, saving the affected limb), b-connecting to the life stream (self-care, getting accustomed, normalization), and c- return to the existence (sense of inner satisfaction and excellence).

CONCLUSION

The results of this study confirmed the physical, psychological and social scales introduced by other studies. Also proposed the concept "return to the existence", that can be measured by the emergence of a sense of inner satisfaction and excellence in the individual, as one of the key and determinant scales in returning the victims of burn to life.

The role of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in medicine: addressing the psychological and physical symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences

BACKGROUND

A substantial body of research shows that adverse life experiences contribute to both psychological and biomedical pathology. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an empirically validated treatment for trauma, including such negative life experiences as commonly present in medical practice. The positive therapeutic outcomes rapidly achieved without homework or detailed description of the disturbing event offer the medical community an efficient treatment approach with a wide range of applications.

METHODS

All randomized studies and significant clinical reports related to EMDR therapy for treating the experiential basis of both psychological and somatic disorders are reviewed. Also reviewed are the recent studies evaluating the eye movement component of the therapy, which has been posited to contribute to the rapid improvement attributable to EMDR treatment.

RESULTS

Twenty-four randomized controlled trials support the positive effects of EMDR therapy in the treatment of emotional trauma and other adverse life experiences relevant to clinical practice. Seven of 10 studies reported EMDR therapy to be more rapid and/or more effective than trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Twelve randomized studies of the eye movement component noted rapid decreases in negative emotions and/or vividness of disturbing images, with an additional 8 reporting a variety of other memory effects. Numerous other evaluations document that EMDR therapy provides relief from a variety of somatic complaints.

CONCLUSION

EMDR therapy provides physicians and other clinicians with an efficient approach to address psychological and physiologic symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. Clinicians should therefore evaluate patients for experiential contributors to clinical manifestations.

The psychiatric sequelae of burn injury

OBJECTIVE

To examine factors predicting psychiatric morbidity, taking into account the full range of psychiatric disorders before and after burn injury.

METHODS

A cohort of 107 patients consecutively admitted to a Swedish national burn center was examined for lifetime psychiatric morbidity, as well as 94 patients at 1 year postinjury. Sixty-seven individuals, some from that same cohort, were interviewed at 2 to 7years postinjury. The predictive effects of psychiatric history, personality and other risk factors for psychiatric morbidity following burn were evaluated with multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS

The prevalence of having a psychiatric disorder preburn was 57%. One year postinjury 19% had minor or major depression and 23% had subsyndromal or full posttraumatic stress disorder. At 2 to 7years, 31% fulfilled the criteria for a psychiatric disorder. The strongest contributing factors were a history of psychiatric morbidity and neuroticism.

CONCLUSIONS

Two-thirds of the patients had a lifetime psychiatric disorder, and one-third had a psychiatric diagnosis 2 to 7years postburn. Mental health problems can have a major impact on daily life and functional abilities. Thus, identification and treatment of a range of psychiatric disorders, taking into account preburn psychiatric disorders and personality, is important for optimal adjustment after burn.

Studying the complex expression dependences between sets of coexpressed genes

Organisms simplify the orchestration of gene expression by coregulating genes whose products function together in the cell. The use of clustering methods to obtain sets of coexpressed genes from expression arrays is very common; nevertheless there are no appropriate tools to study the expression networks among these sets of coexpressed genes. The aim of the developed tools is to allow studying the complex expression dependences that exist between sets of coexpressed genes. For this purpose, we start detecting the nonlinear expression relationships between pairs of genes, plus the coexpressed genes. Next, we form networks among sets of coexpressed genes that maintain nonlinear expression dependences between all of them. The expression relationship between the sets of coexpressed genes is defined by the expression relationship between the skeletons of these sets, where this skeleton represents the coexpressed genes with a well-defined nonlinear expression relationship with the skeleton of the other sets. As a result, we can study the nonlinear expression relationships between a target gene and other sets of coexpressed genes, or start the study from the skeleton of the sets, to study the complex relationships of activation and deactivation between the sets of coexpressed genes that carry out the different cellular processes present in the expression experiments.

Effect of perceived social support and dispositional optimism on the depression of burn patients

Burn wounds have a significant impact on the mental health of patients. This study aimed to investigate the impact of perceived social support and dispositional optimism on depression of burn patients. A total of 246 burn patients accomplished the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Revised Life Orientation Test, and Depression Scale. The results revealed that both perceived social support and optimism were significantly correlated with depression. Structural equation modeling indicated that optimism partially mediated the relationship between perceived social support and depression. Implications for prevention of depression in burn patients were discussed.

Psychiatric outcomes amongst adult survivors of childhood burns

BACKGROUND

Research on the adult psychiatric outcomes of childhood burns is limited.

AIMS

To examine the rates of DSM-IV psychiatric disorder amongst adult survivors of paediatric burns, and to explore factors likely to contribute to variation in outcomes. In line with Meyer and colleagues [1], it was expected that high levels of psychopathology would be found.

METHOD

Participants were 272 adults hospitalised for burns during childhood between the years 1980 and 1990. Structured interviews and self-report questionnaires were used to assess psychiatric symptoms.

RESULTS

Lifetime prevalence of any DSM-IV disorder was 42%, 30% for depressive disorders, and 28% for anxiety disorders. Eleven percent had made a suicide attempt. Female gender, single relationship status, higher level of disfigurement, longer hospital stays and higher number of burn-related surgeries were associated with adverse psychiatric outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

High rates of suicidality and depression were concerning in adults with a history of childhood burns. Factors found to predict psychiatric outcomes could be used to direct interventions and further research is needed to establish how this could best be done.

Impact of facial burns: relationship between depressive symptoms, self-esteem and scar severity

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the role of self-reported facial scar severity as a possible influencing factor on self-esteem and depressive symptoms in patients with facial burns.

METHOD

A prospective multicentre cohort study with a 6 months follow-up was conducted including 132 patients with facial burns. Patients completed the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Structural Equation Modeling was used to assess the relations between depressive symptoms, self-esteem and scar severity.

RESULTS

The model showed that patient-rated facial scar severity was not predictive for self-esteem and depressive symptoms six months post-burn. There was, however, a significant relationship between early depressive symptoms and both patient-rated facial scar severity and subsequent self-esteem. The variables in the model accounted for 37% of the variance in depressive symptoms six months post-burn and the model provided a moderately well-fitting representation of the data.

CONCLUSION

The study suggests that self-esteem and depressive symptoms were not affected by self-reported facial scar severity but that earlier depressive symptoms were indicative for a more severe self-reported facial scar rating. Therefore, routine psychological screening during hospitalisation is recommended in order to identify patients at risk and to optimise their treatment.

Major concerns and issues in burn survivors in Australia

Burn injury significantly impacts the victim’s long-term quality of life, both physically and psychosocially. This prospective, observational study aimed to assess the physical and psychological health status in adult burn survivors in Sydney Australia using the Burns Specific Health Scale-Brief Version (BSHS-B) questionnaire, together with analysis of the baseline demographic data collected from medical records. A total of 24 adult acute burn victims admitted consecutively to the Burns Unit at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, Australia between March 2007 and February 2009 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and participated in the study. The BSHS-B questionnaire (which includes nine domains or subscales) was administered to all 24 participants in person at time of discharge and by mail 6, 12, and 24 months post discharge. By 12 months, 11 participants dropped out and the final analysis was performed on the remaining 13 participants. The analyzed results showed that: 1) Perceived return to work was the only variable that continued to change with time at 12 months after discharge (P < 0.01); 2) At 12 months; return to work was significantly correlated with simple functional ability (P < 0.05), heat sensitivity (P < 0.01), and treatment regimes (P < 0.05), but no longer with affect and body image as demonstrated at 6 months. In summary, our findings have shown that the perception of returning to work changes significantly with time post discharge and this perception is affected by certain subscales of the BSHS-B. Given that return to work is one of the most important outcome concerns and issues of recovery for adult burn injury victims and families, it is essential that therapists be aware of the factors influencing return to work and address these factors through a comprehensive rehabilitation program.

Reliability of scar assessments performed with an integrated skin testing device - the DermaLab Combo(®)

BACKGROUND

The DermaLab Combo(®) is a device with potential to make objective measurements of key scar components - pigmentation, vascularity, pliability and thickness. This study assessed the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of these measurements.

METHOD

Three raters performed scar assessments on thirty patients with burn scars using the DermaLab Combo(®). Measurements of pigmentation, vascularity, pliability and thickness were made and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were derived for inter-rater and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

Inter-rater reliability was found to be "excellent" in the 'best' and 'worst' areas of the index scar and normal skin for pigmentation (ICC: 0.94-0.98) and thickness (ICC: 0.86-0.96). Test-retest reliability was also "excellent" for pigmentation (ICC: 0.87-0.89) and thickness (ICC: 0.92-0.97) in all areas. Vascularity showed "good" to "excellent" inter-rater reliability (ICC: 0.66-0.84) in all areas however test-retest reliability was "low" (ICC: 0.29-0.42). Test-retest reliability was "excellent" for pliability (ICC: 0.76-0.91). Technical limitations were encountered making measurements in some scars for thickness, and in particular, pliability.

CONCLUSION

The DermaLab Combo(®) measured pigmentation, thickness and pliability with "excellent" reliability. If future studies provide protocols to improve test-retest reliability of vascularity measurements and obtain pliability measurements more successfully, the DermaLab Combo(®) will be valuable device for scar assessment.

Using anonymized, routinely collected health data in Wales to estimate the incidence of depression after burn injury

Burn injuries are associated with depression. Patients show variable incidence of postburn depression. The purpose of this study was to use anonymized, routinely collected health-related data in Wales (United Kingdom) to estimate the incidence of depression postburns. The incidence of postburn depression was estimated using routinely collected health data of complete years (1999-2007) from all general practitioner surgeries in Swansea and all National Health Service hospitals in Wales. This had been collected, double encrypted, and stored at the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank of the Health Information Research Unit for Wales at College of Medicine, Swansea University. The incidence of depression within 5 years after the burn injury was 5.9% in patients registered with general practitioner surgeries in Swansea. The incidence was 7.4% in female patients and 4.3% in male patients. The incidence of depression within 5 years after the burn was 3.2% in patients admitted to National Health Service hospitals in Wales. The incidence was 4.5% in female patients and 2.6% in male patients. The advantages of using the anonymized, routinely collected data were avoiding bias, protecting patients' confidentiality, including all patients thus minimizing attrition and greatly reduced costs. It is concluded that anonymized, routinely collected, health-related data may have value in monitoring postburn depression in Wales.

12-month generic health status and psychological distress outcomes following an Australian natural disaster experience: 2009 Black Saturday Wildfires

OBJECTIVE

To describe the generic health status, health-related quality of life and psychological distress over a 12-month period of burns patients affected by the 2009 Black Saturday Wildfires.

DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Cohort study with retrospective assessment of pre-injury status and prospective assessment of physical and psychosocial functioning in the Black Saturday Wildfires burns patients across time. Generic health status and burn specific quality of life using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Burn Specific Health Scale (BSHS) were collected at three, six and twelve months post-burn injury. In addition, similar time points were used to measure level of psychological distress and the presence of pain using the Kessler-10 questionnaire (K-10) and the McGill Pain Questionnaire.

RESULTS

At 12 months post-injury, patients reported a mean 16.4 (standard error, SE: 3.2) reduction in physical health and a 5.3 (SE 2.5) reduction in mental health scores of the SF-36 as compared to their pre-injury scores, with significant decreases observed in the "bodily pain", "physical functioning", "role physical" and "vitality" subscales. High levels of psychological distress and persistent pain were experienced, with no significant changes during the study period to the overall burns specific quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

Even 12 months post-burn injury, patients affected by the 2009 Victorian Wildfires still experienced a significant reduction in generic health, increased psychological distress and persistent pain. The need for early and ongoing identification of physical and psychosocial impairments during hospital admission and upon discharge could be helpful to establish systematic interdisciplinary goals for long-term rehabilitation after severe burn injury.

Burn-specific health 2 years to 7 years after burn injury

BACKGROUND

Knowledge concerning the pattern of recovery and predictors of burn-specific health years after burn injury is limited, and these factors were therefore assessed with a disease-specific instrument, the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief.

METHODS

Consecutive adult burn patients were prospectively included during hospitalization and assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months as well as at 2 years to 7 years (4.6 years on average) after burn. Data concerning injury characteristics, sociodemographic variables, psychiatric disorders, and burn-specific health were obtained.

RESULTS

Burn-specific health improved over time, from 6 months to the final assessment after burn. At 2 years to 7 years after burn, most problems were reported in the subscales heat sensitivity, body image, and work. The regression analyses revealed that length of stay, any preburn psychiatric disorder, major depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder 12 months after burn were predictors of long-term burn-specific health in the affect and relations domain, whereas time since injury, length of stay, and major depression 12 months after burn predicted outcome in the skin involvement domain. Predictors for the subscale work were length of stay, working at the time of injury, and posttraumatic stress disorder at 12 months.

CONCLUSION

This study underscores that significant improvement in postburn health can be expected even later than 2 years after injury. Furthermore, the results imply that both preburn factors and factors identified 1 year after burn have impact on burn-specific health after several years.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III.

Risk factors for post-injury mental health problems

Serious nonfatal physical injuries and burns are common occurrences that can have substantial implications for personal, social, and occupational functioning. Such injuries are frequently associated with significant mental health issues, and compromised quality of life and well-being. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current literature on physical, psychological, and social risk factors for mental health issues post-injury and to contextualize findings using Engel's biopsychosocial framework. We distinguish between pre-injury, injury-related, and post-injury risk factors for mental health problems. Female sex, history of mental health problems or trauma, type of injury, and level of pain are among the strong risk factors for mental health problems post-injury. We highlight inconsistent findings in the literature, identify directions for future research, and explore the implications of the risk factors identified for treatment and prevention.

Outcome after burns: an observational study on burn scar maturation and predictors for severe scarring

Long-term outcome of burn scars as well as the relation with clinically relevant parameters has not been studied quantitatively. Therefore, we conducted a detailed analysis on the clinical changes of burn scars in a longitudinal setup. In addition, we focused on the differences in scar quality in relation to the depth, etiology of the burn wound and age of the patient. Burn scars of 474 patients were subjected to a scar assessment protocol 3, 6, and 12 months postburn. Three different age groups were defined (≤5, 5-18, and ≥18 years). The observer part of the patient and observer scar assessment scale revealed a significant (p < 0.001) improvement in scar quality at 12 months compared with the 3- and 6-month data. Predictors for severe scarring are depth of the wound (p < 0.001) and total body surface area burned (p < 0.001). Etiology (p = 0.753) and age (p > 0.230) have no significant influence on scar quality when corrected for sex, total body surface area burned, time, and age or etiology, respectively.