Correlations between morphological appearance and psychosocial difficulties in patients with extensive burns who...

Extensive burns are devastating traumatic events, with significant potential for development of complex psychosocial problems. The aim of the study was to identify and quantify these difficulties among extensive burns patients. This study was conducted at Clinical Emergency Hospital for Plastic, Reconstructive and Burns Surgery and "Bagdasar-Arseni" Emergency Hospital, in Bucharest, on 43 extensive burn patients. For each patient we developed a statistic sheet with demographic data and medical information. For data collection, subjects completed the following instruments: Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Satisfaction With Appearance Scale (SWAP). The impact variables evaluated in this study were demographic characteristic of patients, burn injury characteristics, abnormal scarring and visible scars, body image dissatisfaction and depression symptoms. Although performed on a small sample, the results of this pilot study could be a valuable starting point for future larger studies, to achieve more generalizable results on extensive burns survivor's quality of life.