Impact of Profound Burn on the Quality of Life of Women Attended at the Referral Outpatient Clinic in the State of Pernambuco

Abstract

Analyze the influence of deep-degree burns on the quality of life (QoL) of women at treatment in ambulatory after hospital discharge. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a reference public hospital for burns in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, from August 2017 to May 2018. Fifty adult women over 20 years old who suffered deep burns and were in outpatient rehabilitation treatment were included. The variables studied were biological, sociodemographic, and clinical. The dynamometry and goniometry tests and the instruments to verify the QV Burn-Specific Health Scale-Revised were included in the analysis. Multiple linear regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with the six domains of the QoL instrument. The results identified a greater negative influence of burns on the QoL of women when associated with the variables: dark-black skin color, low levels of education, low income, motion impairment in right upper limb and lesions less than 6 months in the face, head and neck region. It should be noticed that the overall QoL score presented a median of 92.0, a score considered high, revealing an important QoL impairment. Deep-degree burn victims had a great impact on physical, emotional, and psychological abilities, acting harmfully on their self-image and causing difficulties in the execution of their daily and professional life activities, which are reinforced by aspects such as social position, level of education, and extent and duration of injury, resulting in a low QoL.