Citation

Moi AL, Wentzel-Larsen T, Salemark L, Hanestad BR. Burns 2007; 33(1): 37-45.

Affiliation

Section of Nursing Science, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, N-5018 Bergen, Norway. asgjerd.moi@isf.uib.no

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.burns.2006.06.002

PMID

17079085

Abstract

The success of acute burn therapy has led to an increased demand for high-quality rehabilitation. When optimizing burn care programs, knowledge of long-term risk factors associated with impaired health and unemployment of the patient may be significant. The health and work status of 95 patients (82.1% males; mean age 43.7 (S.D.: 14.5) years; mean total body surface burn 18.5 (S.D.: 14.2) % were assessed 47.0 (S.D.: 23.8) months after injury, using the Norwegian version of the abbreviated burn-specific health scale (BSHS-N) and a questionnaire asking for socio-demographic and medical characteristics. A regression model demonstrated that the BSHS-N total score was significantly reduced by chronic pain (P<0.001), psychological illness (P<0.001), and living alone (P=0.030), as well as full-thickness facial (P=0.011) and foot (P=0.013) burns. Unemployment was significantly associated with housing and economic problems (P=0.001), chronic pain (P=0.001), the extent of full-thickness injury (P=0.005), the presence of deformities (P=0.037), the number of operations (P=0.001) and the length of hospital stay (P=0.016). Thus, socio-demographic factors, non-burn-related morbidity and the injury itself significantly impaired long-term physical and psychosocial health and work status.

Language: en