ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is often a physical and psychosocial effect in burn injury, and the degree of mental stress reaction is related to social support, individual experience and personality characteristics.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mental stress reaction, the degree of social support and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)personality characteristics in acute burn patients, and to analysis the influence factor of mental stress reaction.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.SETTING: West China Mental Health Center of Sichuan University, Burn Department of Mianyang Municipal Central Hospital, and Burn Department of General Hospital of Panzhihua Iron and Steel Company.PARTICIPANTS: From April 2003 to April 2005, totally 104 mild, moderate or severe burn patients, including 92 males and 12 females, aged 12-60 years, selected from Mianyang Central Hospital and Department of burn of General Hospital of Panzhihua Iron & Steel Co., Ltd took part in the study.METHODS: The emotional problems and personality characteristics were measured with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAMA), the Minnesote Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Social Support Rating Scale (SS) as well as general clinical data,by the rating scales 3 day after burn. The patients were divided into anxiety-depression group (n=51) and normal emotion group (n=53) according to their anxiety-depression scores (anxious score＞ 7,depressive score＞ 8), those influencing factor included burning total area,age, sex and society support, Stepwise Regression was introduced to get the main factors that influenced mental stress reaction.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Scores of each scale and comparison of general clinical data in each group; ② stepwise regression analysis of depression and anxiety of burn patients.RESULTS: Data of Totally 104 patients was entered the final analysis. ①The scores were 10.4±2.46 and 16.8±5.94 of anxious and depressive patients during acute burn period, which were higher than those in normal group (4.29±2.26, 5.48±2.06, P=0.01). ② The main influential factor for depression were burning area and social supporting availability, and those for anxiety were age, burning area, social supporting availability and subjective social supporting degree. ③ MMPI test results show that T scores in anxiety-depression group were below 60 points, however T-scores were above 60 points in normal group including cheating points, hypomania,schizophrenia, psychasthenia and paranoid ideation CONCLUSION: Burn is a mental crisis to burn patients, which can lead to abnormal emotional reaction and personality change. The depressive and anxious score are positively related with burning area, and are negatively correlated with society supporting availability. The good social support system is benefit to over mental crisis period.