Psychosocial problems among adult burn victims

The following tentative conclusions may be drawn from this pilot study: Depression and anxiety are moderately elevated in pre-discharge burn patients, and drop to normal or low levels with the passage of time. There is a significant incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among recently burned patients, and the prevalence actually increases with time. This increase may be due to the incidence of the 'delayed' form of the disorder. Personality factors which may predict post-burn psychosocial outcome are neuroticism, trait anxiety and hypochondriasis. Burn severity does not usefully predict psychosocial outcome. The presence of compensation issues is associated with post-burn psychosocial difficulties, particularly in intimate family relationships. However there is no association with depression or anxiety. Pre-burn psychiatric morbidity is associated with poor post-burn psychosocial adjustment.