Pathways leading to self-perceived general health and overall quality of life in burned adults

Purpose

The aim of the study was to explore pathways leading to self-perceived general health and overall quality of life in burn patients.

Materials and methods

Data on burn-specific health, generic health, overall quality of life, injury characteristics and socio-demographics were obtained from 95 adult burn patients 47.0 (23.8) [mean (SD)] months after injury. A theoretical path model was established based on the concepts of Wilson and Cleary's model on health-related quality of life [1], and the proposed model was examined by structural equation modelling.

Results

Two main paths were identified, one leading to general health perception and the other leading to overall quality of life. Together, direct and indirect paths explained 63% of the variance of perceived general health and 43% of the variance in overall quality of life. The total effects of the SF-36 domain Vitality on perceived general health and overall quality of life were 0.62 and 0.66, respectively. No statistically significant path could be revealed between general health perception and overall quality of life.

Conclusion

The results indicate that self-perceived general health and overall quality of life are related but distinct constructs. Moreover, vitality seems to be an important factor for the perception of both general health and overall quality of life in burned adults.