title: Health-related quality of life 6 months after burns among hospitalized patients: Predictive importance of mental disorders and burn severity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Major burns are likely to have a strong impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We investigated the level of and predictors for quality of life at 6 months after acute burn.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive acute adult burn patients (n=107) admitted to the Helsinki Burn Centre were examined with a structured diagnostic interview (SCID) at baseline, and 92 patients (86%) were re-examined at 6 months after injury. During follow-up 55% (51/92) suffered from at least one mental disorder. The mean %TBSA was 9. TBSA of men did not differ from that of women. Three validated instruments (RAND-36, EQ-5, 15D) were used to evaluate the quality of life at 6 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the measures (RAND-36, EQ-5, 15D) consistently indicated mostly normal HRQoL at 6 months after burn. In the multivariate linear regression model, %TBSA predicted HRQoL in one dimension (role limitations caused by physical health problems, p=0.039) of RAND-36. In contrast, mental disorders overall and particularly major depressive disorder (MDD) during follow-up (p-values of 0.001-0.002) predicted poor HRQoL in all dimensions of RAND-36. HRQoL of women was worse than that of men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-perceived HRQoL among acute burn patients at 6 months after injury seems to be mostly as good as in general population studies in Finland. The high standard of acute treatment and the inclusion of small burns (%TBSA<5) in the cohort may partly explain the weak effect of burn itself on HRQoL. Mental disorders strongly predicted HRQoL at 6 months.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: raimo.palmu@hus.fi.
authors: Raimo
authors: R
authors: Palmu
authors: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Timo
authors: T
authors: Partonen
authors: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, City of Helsinki, Social Services and Health Care, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Kirsi
authors: K
authors: Suominen
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors: Samuli I
authors: SI
authors: Saarni
authors: Helsinki Burn Centre, Department of Plastic Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Jyrki
authors: J
authors: Vuola
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Erkki
authors: E
authors: Isometsä
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003693:Delirium / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices
keywords: Burn; Health-related quality of life; Mental disorders