Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Hutter, M.
Health-related Quality of Life and Social Reintegration after Burns
A Survey among Burn Survivors treated from 2012 to 2019 at the Division of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Graz
Humanmedizin; [ Diplomarbeit ] Medizinische Universität Graz; 2021. pp. 73
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- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Betreuer*innen:
- Kamolz Lars-Peter
- Smolle Christian
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- Background and aim: Burn injuries are common severe and devastating injuries, that can have a lasting impact on the patients’ life on a physical, psychological and social level. In recent decades, mortality has been greatly reduced due to many advances in intensive care medicine, skin replacement procedures and surgical management. Consequently, not only survival but also health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and social reintegration (SR) are increasingly important outcome parameters. The present study aims to take a first step towards the assessment of HRQoL and SR after burn injuries in the Austrian population. Material and methods: In this single-center follow-up study self-reported HRQoL and SR of 128 of overall 388 (33.0%) adult in-patients with former burn injuries, treated between 2012 and 2019 at the Division of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Department of Surgery at the University Hospital of Graz were assessed using the SF-36 V1.0 in German and 11 further questions evaluating SR. The questionnaire outcomes were set into relation with clinical data obtained from the medical records. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 27.0 for Windows. Results: Of the 128 participants 72.7% were male and 27.3% female. Mean age at the time of injury was 40.0 years (SD 15.7) and mean %TBSA among the study population was 9.2% (SD 11.0). Male patients had sustained more extensive injuries (p = 0.005). The study revealed that female patients scored significantly (p < 0.05) and consistently lower in all domains of the SF-36, except for “bodily pain” (p 0.061). Also, female patients scored lower in all domains of SR. However, significant differences were only found in the domain fulfillment (p = 0.050) and mental wellbeing (p = 0.015). Of the pre-burn employed male participants 86% were employed upon interview and 62.9% of females, while in total only 3 participants had lost their jobs. Overall, unemployment had declined (6.3% vs. 10.2% at the time of interview). Consumption of alcohol, as well as tobacco and illegal drugs decreased for all patients. Psychiatric disorders were more common in women than in men (17.1% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.002). Conclusion: SR after burn injury in this study cohort seems to be good. Return to work, as well as substance consumption have shown a promising trend. Strikingly, HRQoL was lower in women after burn injury, and psychiatric comorbidities were also more common in women. Further research on reasons for this gender discrepancy and focused rehabilitation for patients with psychiatric comorbidities might improve HRQoL and SR for these patients.