Citation

Cimino SR, Rios JN, Godleski M, Hitzig SL. J. Burn Care Res. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Burn Association, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1093/jbcr/irz146

PMID

31504597

Abstract

Adult-acquired burn injuries are a life-altering event that can lead to debilitating functional or psychological impairments. With advancements in healthcare resulting in decreased mortality rates, survivors of burn injuries can expect to live longer. This warrants a shift in focus to better understand what happens to adults once they are discharged from the hospital into the community. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to map the literature regarding the long-term outcomes of community-dwelling adult acquired burn survivors. A computer-assisted literature search was conducted on literature from January 1, 2000 to August 31, 2018 utilizing four large databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAL and PsychINFO). Articles were included if they had a minimum of five individuals with a burn injury as a result of an accidental injury who were at least 18 years of age at the time of injury. Fifty-four articles were found suitable for inclusion in this review. The majority of studies were conducted in the United States and utilized longitudinal study designs. Four themes were apparent from the articles: post-burn complications, psychosocial outcomes, quality of life, and community participation. Data is lacking with respect to outcomes more than five years post-burn, as well as qualitative research. Furthermore, more literature is needed to understand the impact of post-burn complications, coping strategies and post-traumatic growth as well as barriers to community participation. Overall, there is an emerging body of literature that describes the long-term outcomes of adult acquired burn survivors up to five years post-burn.

© American Burn Association 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Language: en

Keywords

Burn Injury; Long-term Outcomes; Quality of Life; Survivors