Depressive Symptoms Among Survivors of Burn Injuries

Abstract

Ab s t r a c tPurpose: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients surviving a burn injury. Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 burn inpatients (50 males and 50 females) admitted to Sina Burn Center; Tabriz University of Medical Sciences during 2012.The severity and grade of burn injury was evaluated by a dermatologist. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used to evaluate the existence and severity of depressive symptoms. Results:In this study, 56% of burn patients suffered from depressive symptoms. Among these, 38 (38%) patients were identified with low, 13 (13%) with moderate and 5 (5%) with severe depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were reported in 20 (40%) males and 36 (72%) females. Moreover, depressive symptoms were observed in 15 (26.3%) patients with a total body surface area (TBSA) less than 30% and 41 (73.2%) with TBSA more than 30%. Conclusion:Depressive symptoms are common in burn patients and was twice as common among women. Psychological interventions along with the medical therapy should be provided for these patients.

Frequency of Depression in Burn Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…Alvi et al from WahCantt also reported flam burns predominating cause of burn among the targeted population which is consistent to our findings. Another study from Iran conducted by 3 Afraie et al reported 84 % flame burn injuries, which is in compliance with our study results. Depression was noted in 88 (58.7%) of our study 9 cases.…”

“…Psychological impairment has found to be present in 45.5% and 40% at baseline and follow up 8 9 assessments respectively. Alvi et al from WahCantt reported 58 % depression in burn patients while another study from conducted by 3 Afraie et al reported 56 % depression in burn patients. There is only one study done in Pakistan to document depression in burn patients, which was done using a very small sample size of only 50 patients, so the results of this one study done with a small sample size could not be generalized on our large number of burns patients in Southern Punjab.…”