A survey of psychological need amongst adult burn-injured patients

This study of 71 burn-injured adults was carried out to inform clinical psychological practice in a newly developed service for individuals affected by disfigurement. Self-completion questionnaires were administered to patients attending outpatient clinics and information was collated on a range of variables including time since injury, cause, location and perceived severity of injury. Questions were also asked about the level of psycho-social support received and needed during hospitalisation and post discharge and people were asked to indicate the type of help that they wanted. Results indicate no correlation between the amount of time since injury and the degree of emotional difficulty experienced. 56% reported current emotional problems and 38% of the sample felt that they would benefit from professional help. There was a significant correlation between individualsʹ perception of the severity of the injury and the degree of distress experienced (p<0.05). The two most popular preferences for help was individual counselling followed by professionally led groups.