title: Quality of life, body image, and psychiatric complications in patients with a burn trauma: preliminary study of the italian version of the burn specific health scale-brief.
abstract: Burn patients may suffer both physical and psychopathological consequences and their quality of life and the presence of psychopathological symptoms should be evaluated. The Burn Specific Health Scale - Brief (BHSH-B) is a tried and tested instrument for assessing burn patients' quality of life. The aim of this study is to propose the Italian translation of BSHS-B and presents the preliminary results of an exploratory study. The Italian version of the BSHS-B was administered to a sample group of 50 burn victims. Reliability was verified by Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity was evaluated through correlation with the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Self-report Symptom Inventory - Revised (SCL-90). The entire scale and two out of three domains showed Cronbach's alpha values higher than 0.8. Significant correlations were identified between BSHS-B subscales and the SF-36 subscales Physical Pain and Social Activities. Several psychopathological SCL-90 subscales correlated with BSHS-B subscales Heat Sensitivity and Body Image. It was concluded that our translation of BSHS-B was reliable and showed good construct validity. The drawbacks of this study are the limited size of the sample and the wide variety of types of burn injuries.
authors: Section of Psychiatry, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Palermo University, Palermo, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Sideli
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Prestifilippo
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Di Benedetto
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Farrauto
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Grassìa
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Mulè
authors: M V
authors: MV
authors: Rumeo
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Di Pasquale
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Conte
authors: D
authors: D
authors: La Barbera