OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term quality of life of pediatric burn survivors with and without inhalation injuries. We hypothesized that patients with inhalation injury would report more disability and lower quality of life.
METHODS: We examined 51 patients with inhalation injury and 72 without inhalation injury who had burns of ≥10% total body surface area, were age ≥16 years at time of the interview, and were greater than 5 years from injury. Subjects completed the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale II (WHODAS II) and the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B). Multiple regression analyses were used to measure the effects of inhalation injury while controlling for age at burn and TBSA.
RESULTS: The mean age of burn of participants with inhalation injury was 11.7±3.6 years, mean TBSA 55%±18, and mean ventilator days 8.4±9. The mean age of burn of participants without inhalation injury was 10.3±34.1 years, mean TBSA 45%±20, and mean ventilator days 1.3±5.2. Inhalation injury did not appear to significantly impact participants' scores on the majority of the domains. The WHODAS II domain of household activities showed a significant relation with TBSA (p=0.01). Increased size of burn was associated with difficulty completing tasks for both groups. The BSHS-B domain of treatment regimen showed a relation with age at burn (p=0.02). Increased age was associated difficulty in this area for both groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall the groups were comparable in their reports of disability and quality of life. Inhalation injury did not affect long-term quality of life.