A total of 85 consecutive patients treated at a national burn center were prospectively assessed: the patients were interviewed during acute care with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders. One year after injury, perceived health was assessed with the Burn-Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B). Multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictive effect of preinjury psychiatric history on perceived postinjury health.
Psychiatric morbidity, especially mood disorders, affected outcome for six of the nine BSHS-B subscales, with the covariates mainly being the length of hospital stay and total burn size.
The results show that a history of preinjury psychiatric disorders, especially during the year before the burn, affects perceived outcome regarding both physical and psychological aspects of health 1 year after injury and that it is a risk factor for worse perceived outcome.