title: Young, scarred children and their mothers--a short-term investigation into the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury to the preschool child. Part II: implications for the child.
abstract: A short-term, prospective study, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, was designed to determine the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury resulting in scarring for children under 5 years of age, during the 6 months following the child's discharge from hospital. Mothers of 57 children (whose thermal injuries ranged from 1 to 41 per cent of body surface area and who all required skin grafting) were interviewed whilst the child was in hospital and at home, at 1 week, 2 months and 6 months following hospital discharge. From the mothers' descriptions, four categories of child behavioural response to thermal injury and hospitalization were identified. In the first week after discharge from the burns unit, 56 per cent (32/57) of children displayed minor or major disturbed behaviour, which had reduced to 19.3 per cent (11/57) by the 6-month interview. There were many reported physical and practical problems associated with the thermal injury and after-care. The MacGregor Deformity Scale was employed to assess the child's appearance. The child behaviour test scores (S. Jenkins et al. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatr. 1980; 21: 5; N. Richman et al. Pre-school to School-A Behavioural Study. 1982; Academic) demonstrated a similar progression of behavioural responses as the qualitative data, and, furthermore, indicated that the children under 2 years of age seemed to be affected for a more prolonged period.
authors.affiliation: Booth Hall Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: V F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Hillier
mesh_terms: D002056:Burns / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D002666:Psychology, Child; D016038:Skin Transplantation