Psychiatric disorders in burn patients: a follow-up study

BACKGROUND: We report on a prospective study of 45 patients with burn injuries admitted to a major burn unit in the greater Athens area. The study aimed to explore the prevalence of psychological and psychiatric disorders among burn survivors. METHODS: The sample comprised all consecutive cases of adult burn patients in a 6-month period. Personal interviews were conducted by the administration of the Langner scale and the DSM-III-R Structured Clinical Interview. Twelve months later, 30 patients of the baseline sample were reexamined. RESULTS: Psychological impairment was found to be 45.5 and 40% at the baseline and follow-up assessments, respectively. The extent of burns was found to be associated with psychological impairment. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders (any DSM-III nosological entity) reached 46.6% at both baseline and follow-up examinations. Posttraumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 17.8 and 20.0% of burn survivors at the baseline and the 12-month follow-up assessments, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that face disfigurement was the only burn characteristic significantly associated with the presence of psychiatric morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study suggest that the extent of burns is not so important when compared to the possibility of disfigurement from the point of risk of developing a psychiatric disorder.