Long-term health-related quality of life after a deep second- or third-degree burn treated with skin grafting

As burns are known to have a negative impact on the burn victim's quality of life, the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a key outcome in the evaluation of burn treatment. In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of HRQoL instruments after burn injury. The aim of this study was to assess whether there is a correlation between the HRQoL and the total body surface area (TBSA)% burned and also to assess correlation between the SCAR-Q scores and the TBSA% burned in deep burns requiring skin grafting.

Participants were adult burn patients treated in the Helsinki Burn Centre between 2006 and 2017 with skin grafting after deep second- or third-degree burns. Participants completed the general HRQoL 15D instrument and the patient-reported scar outcome measure SCAR-Q.

194 participants were divided into three groups according to the burn TBSA%: small burns (<10 %), moderate burns (10-20 %) and large burns (>20 %). The total HRQoL score after small burns did not differentiate from the reference population, even though there was a statistically significant difference in two domains (depression and distress). HRQoL measured with the 15D instrument was worse for moderate burns in half of the domains and for large burns in most of the domains (11/15) in comparison with the reference population. Small burns scored the best and large burns the worst in every SCAR-Q subscale.

There is a negative correlation between both the HRQoL and SCAR-Q scores in relation to the burn size in deep second- and third-degree burns. Small deep burns did not appear to affect the total HRQoL, but with moderate and large deep burns the HRQoL was impaired.