Exploring what is important during burn recovery: a qualitative study investigating priorities of patients and healthcare professionals over time

Christin Hoffmann; Philippa Davies; Daisy Elliott; Amber Young

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059528

Exploring what is important during burn recovery: a qualitative study investigating priorities of patients and healthcare professionals over time

BMJ Open. 2023 Feb 10;13(2):e059528. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059528.

Authors

Christin Hoffmann^{1

2}, Philippa Davies³, Daisy Elliott^{4

2}, Amber Young^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK c.hoffmann@bristol.ac.uk.
² Bristol Centre for Surgical Research, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
³ Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁴ NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁵ Children's Burns Research Centre Bristol, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK.

Abstract

Objectives: This qualitative study aimed to investigate: (1) priorities of patients and healthcare professionals during recovery from a burn injury, (2) how priorities change over time and (3) how priorities map to outcomes currently reported in burns research.

Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically.

Setting, participants: A total of 53 patients and healthcare professionals were recruited from four National Health Service (NHS) burn services across England and Wales across England and Wales. Patient participants (n=32) included adults, adolescents and parents of paediatric patients, with a variety of burn injuries in terms of severity and cause of burn injury. Healthcare professionals (n=21) were NHS staff members involved in burn care and included professionals with a range of clinical experience and roles (eg, nurses, surgeons, occupational therapists, physiotherapist, administration).

Results: Ten themes relating to priorities (outcomes) during recovery from a burn injury were identified for patients and professionals. Of those, six were identified for patients and professionals ('pain and discomfort', 'psychological well-being', 'healing', 'scarring', 'function', 'infection'), three were unique to professionals ('patient knowledge, understanding and support', 'sense of control', 'survival') and one was unique to patients ('uncertainty'). Results highlighted that importance of these priorities changes over time (eg, 'survival' was only a concern in the short term). Likewise, priorities differed between patients and professionals (eg, 'pain' was important to patients throughout their recovery, but not for professionals). Seven out of 10 themes overlapped with outcomes commonly assessed in burn research.

Conclusion: Professionals' and patients' priorities (important outcomes) change over time after burn injury and differ between those groups. Burn care research should consider measuring outcomes at different time points during the recovery from a burn injury to accurately reflect complexity of burn recovery.

Keywords: Clinical trials; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH; Quality in health care.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Burns* / psychology
Burns* / therapy
Child
Delivery of Health Care
England
Humans
Pain
Qualitative Research
State Medicine*

Grants and funding

MR/K025643/1/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom