Anxiety and depression after burn, not as bad as we think-A nationwide study

A history of psychiatric disorders is more common among patients who have had burns than in the general population. To try and find out the scale of the problem we have assessed self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression after a burn.

Consecutive patients with burns measuring more than 10% total body surface area or duration of stay in hospital of seven days or more were included. Personal and clinical details about the patients were extracted from the database at each center. Data were collected from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, as well as Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL; Short Form-36, SF-36) and questionnaires about socioeconomic factors. All results were obtained 12 and 24 months after the burn, and compared with those from a reference group.

A total of 156 patients responded to the questionnaires. Mean (SD) age and TBSA (%) were 46 (16.4) years and 23.6 (19.2) %, respectively. There were no differences in incidence between the burn and reference groups in anxiety or depression either 12 or 24 months after the burn. Those who reported higher anxiety and depression scores also had consistently poorer HRQoL as assessed by the SF-36.

Seen as a group, people who have had burns report anxiety and depression the same range as a reference group. Some patients, however, express more anxiety and depression, and concomitantly poorer HRQoL. These patients should be identified, and offered additional support.