Considerations for psychosocial support following burn injury—A family perspective

A survey of burn professionals regarding the mental health services available to burn survivors in the United States and United Kingdom

“…In fact, some survivors find that emotional and social adjustment to burn scarring is one of the most challenging aspects of their recovery [2,3]. Frequently experienced psychological and social problems include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, substance abuse, sleep disturbance, low body image, social anxiety, stigmatization and discrimination [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

The long-term health-related quality of life in children treated for burns as infants 5–9 years earlier

“…The burn accident, pain from the injury itself and that caused by treatments, a strange hospital environment, separation from the family and parents, or mirroring the parents' feelings result in psychosocial distress. Apart from the burn victim, parents, caregivers, and siblings may experience guilt feelings, depression, or even symptoms of posttraumatic stress [2][3][4][5]. Anxiety and stress affecting parents may also influence family relationships and potentially disturb the sense of safety, affecting later development, as the maladaptive behavior may be passed on to the child.…”

Mental and Physical Health Outcomes in Parents of Children with Burn Injuries as Compared with Matched Controls

“…First of all, the existing studies used samples of specific burn populations, whereas this proposed study will be population-based, examining health outcomes of parents for all children admitted with burn injury to the provincial burn centre. The largest sample size in existing literature included 193 families of burn injured children [27], with all other studies ranging from a sample size of 16 [19] to 72 [28]. The present study will include 1029 parents of burn-injured children and 4923 matched controls and will therefore provide more generalizable results than the existing studies.…”

“…Studies to date have generally used questionnaires or screening tools to evaluate specific mental health concerns. Some commonly used questionnaires include the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales [15,28] and the Impact of Events Scale (both original and revised) [16,27,29] which are only able to capture the selfreported symptoms of the particular Axis 1 disorder the questionnaire is designed for. Fukunishi et al used the Structured Clinical interview for DSM-III-R to diagnose depression and posttraumatic stress disorder; however the sample size of this study was 16 and only included mothers of children who suffered from injuries from falling into a bathtub of hot water [19].…”

“…The proposed study will examine validated mental health disorders of both mothers and fathers two years before and after their child suffered a burn injury and also physical illnesses that might arise. There are also many studies which included primarily young children [15,23,27,28]. The proposed study will include all offspring of parents who suffered from burn injuries up to 18 years of age and will therefore be more generalizable to the entire pediatric age range.…”