A Follow-Up Study of Adults With Suicidal Burns: Psychosocial Adjustment and Quality of Life

The severity of the burn injuries, accompanying injuries, and the often concomitant psychiatric disease complicate the treatment of patients with suicidal burns. Data from 45 patients who were treated for suicidal burn injuries from 1995 to 2004 were acquired from the patients' charts and interviews with standardized questionnaires (n = 11) concerning their psychological status pretrauma and posttrauma, as well as their quality of life with special reference to psychosocial adjustments. None of the patients survived more than 69% TBSA burns; no one with 41% or less died. Most of the patients had prediagnosed psychiatric disorders. The educational and social background of the patients and religious beliefs played a minor role for choosing this method of suicide. Aggression levels were above the average population, whereas self-direction was underdeveloped. Forty percent, albeit unsuccessfully, committed subsequent suicide attempts. Most patients felt only moderate social impairment by the burn wound residuals, the majority had intensified and improved their social contacts, and most felt no relevant decrease of quality of life compared with their personal situation before the suicide attempt. Patients who survive the suicide attempt can become integrated in social life again. More data are needed to reliably identify patients at risk in advance. (J Burn Care Res 2009;30:844-851)