[Quality of life in burn disfigurement individuals as life in suffocation - a qualitative study]

ABSTRACT

Nowadays with improving the taking care of the burnt patients, mortality rate decreased. With the increased survival of these patients, the number of the survivors with complications increased. Among these consequences, disfigurement is the most important ones. So recently, psychosocial problems of burnt patients and their rehabilitation have been deeply paid attention to. Therefore, a qualitative study was conducted so as to obtain information concerning quality of life with burn disfigurement after being discharged from the hospital, in order to devise psycho-social support programs based on this evidence. This article reports part of a greater qualitative study. Purposive sampling and theoretical sampling was used to selecting the participants. The main data collecting tool was in-depth interviews. Thirty-four individual in-depth interviews were performed with 22 participants. The interviews were analyzed by the content analysis method and constant comparative method. After analyzing, for quality of life with burn disfigurement theme's "life in suffocation" with three core category "ruin lives", "to get tired" and "slavery disfigurement" appeared. Despite the severity of suffocation for different people was different, but it was for all participants. The evidences indicate quality of life with disfigurement even in people who few years living with problem, in a way that is inappropriate and uncomfortable as life is suffocating. Hence there exists a need to devise a proper supportive plan to enhance quality of life for these people