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Effect of burn rehabilitation program on improving quality of life (QoL) for hand burns patients: a randomized controlled study

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European Journal of Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Burn injuries, including hands are one of the most devastating injuries. Hand burns do not often play a major role in the mortality. But, they represent a huge problem that may eventually lead to chronic disabilities, lifelong impairment, and significant functional and occupational limitations. These comorbidities can negatively affect a patient’s quality of life (QoL) besides, making re-integration into society is difficult. This study aims to investigate the effect of our designated burn rehabilitation program on improving quality of life of hand burns patients.

Methods

A randomized controlled study was conducted for 12 months at Mansoura University Burn Center. It included 60 adult patients with hand burns who were randomly divided and assigned to a study and control groups. Both groups underwent basic rehabilitation. A newly designed program was implemented for the study group. Data were collected using three tools; bio-socio demographic characteristics, the Burn Health Knowledge Questionnaire, and the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B). The quality of life of patients with hand burns was evaluated three times.

Results

One month and three months after implementing the burn rehabilitation program, the total mean scores for the QoL of patients in the study group improved from 31.1 ± 11.3 to 118.5 ± 21.3 and 135.4 ± 24.3, respectively (P < 0.001). In addition, the changes in QoL of the patients in the control group significantly improved from 24.8 ± 12.1 to 57.6 ± 19.1 and 87.5 ± 23.8, respectively (P < 0.001). Despite this steady improvement in the control group, the mean scores on the QoL sub-scales and total mean scores remained lower than those in the study group.

Conclusions

Based on the results obtained in the current study, the design and implemention of a burn rehabilitation programme based on clinical knowledge improves the quality of life of patients with burns. Therefore, this program is recommended for use early as a part of the treatment process for patients with burns.

Level of Evidence: Level I, risk/prognostic study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the physiotherapist, physicians, burn surgeons, nurses, and all personnel of the Burn Center who sincerely cooperated with us in all stages of this research. At the end, we appreciate all burned patients who cooperated with us in the accomplishment of this research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Ola Ebrahim Elsherbiny, Amany Mohammed Shebl & Wafaa Ismail Shrief

  2. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Mohammed Hassan El Fahar

  3. Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Soheir Mohammed Weheida

Authors
  1. Ola Ebrahim Elsherbiny
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  2. Mohammed Hassan El Fahar
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  3. Soheir Mohammed Weheida
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  4. Amany Mohammed Shebl
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  5. Wafaa Ismail Shrief
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammed Hassan El Fahar.

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Conflict of interest

Ola Ebrahim Elsherbiny, Mohamed Hassan El Fahar, Soheir Mohamed Wehada, Amany Mohamed Shebl, and Wafaa Ismail Shrief declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Initial permission to conduct the study was obtained from the research ethics committee in the Faculty of Nursing Mansoura University and the study was approved by the ethical committee research of the hospital. All procedures performed were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinski declaration and its later amendments.

Patient consent

Each patient was interviewed individually and informed about the purpose and importance of rehabilitation on burns outcomes. Informed consent was taken from patients. The researcher was emphasized that the privacy and confidentiality of all information were secured by coding data, participation is voluntary, and they have the right to refuse or withdraw from the study at any time. The study maneuvers could not entail any harmful effects on participants. At the end of the program, in order to fulfill the ethical considerations of the study, professional help was provided to all participants whenever needed and telephone number of the researcher was given to all patients in the intervention and control group to answer their questions. Also, the instruction manual booklet was provided to the control group and necessary guidance was given as well.

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Elsherbiny, O.E., El Fahar, M.H., Weheida, S.M. et al. Effect of burn rehabilitation program on improving quality of life (QoL) for hand burns patients: a randomized controlled study. Eur J Plast Surg 41, 451–458 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-017-1379-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-017-1379-7

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