Background: There are many potential long-term effects of facial burns in children and young adults. We evaluated the outcomes of children and young adults with and without facial burns with respect to physical, psychological, and social domains of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In addition, we examined the role of sex and socioeconomic status on HRQoL in these patients.
Methods: Parents of children aged from 5 to 18 years with burn injury completed the American Burn Association/Shriners Hospitals for Children Burn Outcomes Questionnaire when survival was ensured at their original burn center admission and at regular 6-month intervals during the first 2 years and annually up to 4 years after their acute care discharge. Generalized estimating equations with mixed models were used to evaluate the course of recovery with risk adjustments for time since burn, presence of facial burns, and clinical and other sociodemographic characteristics.
Results: Patients with facial burns paralleled the recovery of patients without facial burns, but their mean scores remained lower during the 4 years, with the lowest scores in the domains of appearance, emotional health, and parental concern. Teenagers had improved recovery rates when compared with younger children. Males scored lower with respect to family disruption but recovered at faster rates than females over time, and parents with higher education scored lower for parental concern during the 4 years of follow-up.
Conclusion: Psychosocial concerns predominate in the recovery of children who sustain facial burns and are significantly greater than those observed in children in whom the face is not involved by burn injury.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00239668.