Citation

Kent L, King H, Cochrane R. Burns 2000; 26(4): 317-322.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Mindelsohn Way, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK. l.s.kent@bham.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10751698

Abstract

It is a commonly held belief that many children suffer psychological sequelae following burn injury. This six month controlled, prospective, follow up study was designed to investigate psychological sequelae in children and their mothers following paediatric burn injury. The study employed a sample of 40 children with burn injuries, and their mothers with three control groups, each of 40 children and their mothers: an acutely ill group, a fracture group and a non ill/injured group. Measures at initial contact and 6 month follow up included the Child Behaviour Checklist and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The results demonstrated higher initial maternal anxiety scores in the burn, compared to the fracture and non ill/injured groups, which remained comparatively high 6 months later even though they decreased over time. Children with burn injuries, of the type included in this study, did not appear to develop significant psychological or behavioural sequelae. Following paediatric burn injury mothers appear to be at higher risk than children for developing psychological sequelae, which may have longer term implications for the child's outcome such as affecting compliance with treatment.

Language: en