title: Burn-specific health 2 years to 7 years after burn injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Knowledge concerning the pattern of recovery and predictors of burn-specific health years after burn injury is limited, and these factors were therefore assessed with a disease-specific instrument, the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive adult burn patients were prospectively included during hospitalization and assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months as well as at 2 years to 7 years (4.6 years on average) after burn. Data concerning injury characteristics, sociodemographic variables, psychiatric disorders, and burn-specific health were obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Burn-specific health improved over time, from 6 months to the final assessment after burn. At 2 years to 7 years after burn, most problems were reported in the subscales heat sensitivity, body image, and work. The regression analyses revealed that length of stay, any preburn psychiatric disorder, major depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder 12 months after burn were predictors of long-term burn-specific health in the affect and relations domain, whereas time since injury, length of stay, and major depression 12 months after burn predicted outcome in the skin involvement domain. Predictors for the subscale work were length of stay, working at the time of injury, and posttraumatic stress disorder at 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study underscores that significant improvement in postburn health can be expected even later than 2 years after injury. Furthermore, the results imply that both preburn factors and factors identified 1 year after burn have impact on burn-specific health after several years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Level III.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. caisa.oster@neuro.uu.se
authors.forename: Caisa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Öster
authors.forename: Mimmie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Willebrand
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ekselius
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult