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Development of a symptom assessment scale for moderate-to-severe burn patients in rehabilitation: A Delphi study
Qianyu Qin1, Yunyun Deng2, Qinqin Li1
1School of Nursing, Guizhou Medical University, No. 9 Beijing Road, Yunyan District, Guiyang, China.
Background:
Burn injuries pose a major global public health challenge, causing significant physical and psychological harm. Comprehensive symptom assessment is critical for the effective rehabilitation of moderate-to-severe burn patients, but existing tools lack specificity for their unique symptom profile during rehabilitation. This study aimed to develop a targeted symptom assessment scale for these patients, addressing the gap in specialized evaluation tools.
Methods:
The Delphi technique was used to determine the content of the Symptom Assessment Scale for Moderate-to-Severe Burn Patients During Rehabilitation (SAS-MBR). Predefined item inclusion criteria were a mean importance score ≥ 3.5, expert consensus (agreement or strong agreement) ≥ 75%, and a coefficient of variation (CV) < 0.25. Two rounds of consultation were conducted with a panel of 25 interdisciplinary burn experts (18 completed both rounds).
Results:
After two Delphi rounds, 31 items were retained, categorized into four domains: Scar Characteristics, Systemic Functional Impairment, Psychological & Sleep, and Social Maladjustment. Strong inter-expert agreement was observed (Kendall's W = 0.390, P < 0.001), confirming substantial content validity and consensus on the framework.
Conclusion:
The SAS-MBR demonstrates good content validity and practicability in assessing symptoms among moderate-to-severe burn patients during rehabilitation. It captures the distinctive challenges of burn rehabilitation and the specific needs in China, further enriching the assessment system for burn care.
