Psychiatric Morbidities among Burn Injury Patients

Abstract

Burn injuries are among the most devastating of all injuries and a major global public health crisis (Forjuoh, 2006; Peck et al., 2008). Burns are the fourth most common type of trauma worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of burns occur in low to middle income countries, regions that generally lack the necessary infrastructure to reduce the incidence and severity of burns (Peck and Pressman, 2013). In Egypt, most burn injuries occur in a domestic setting, with cooking as the most common activity (Attia, 1997). Burns to adult females occur mostly at home, while burns to adult males occur mostly in outdoor or work locations (Hemeda et al., 2003). The elderly are most likely to sustain a burn in the bathroom, followed by the kitchen (Mabrouk et al., 2003). The knowledge of pre-existing psychiatric problems is important for burn care mainly for two reasons: first, to better understand and identify psychiatric symptoms occurring during treatment and to recognize them as ongoing or reactivated problems instead of reactions to the injury and second, to increase awareness of potential difficulties during rehabilitation (McKibben et al., 2009; Tedstone and Tarrier, 1997). 141