Influencing factors of the quality of life in Chinese burn patients: Investigation with adapted Chinese version of the BSHS-B

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in burn patients in China and find out principal influencing factors, so as to provide evidence for interventions. Methods: A total of 271 burn patients in three major bum units in China were asked to fill in the adapted Chinese version (ACV) of the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (ACV BSHS-B) in order to seek out the principal influencing factors in combination with a self-designed demographic and disease condition questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression was used to analyse the principal influencing factors. Results: The findings showed that there were seven principal influencing factors for the overall ACV BSHS-B score. They were: percent total body surface area (TBSA) burned (with the standardised regression coefficient being -0.594), bum area of lower limber (0.241), itch level (-0.227), pain level (-0.220), gender (0.217), mechanical ventilation (0.216) and hand deformity (-0.141). Conclusion: QOL decreased in burn patients to different degrees depending on the intensity of burns. With a better understanding of influencing factors of bum patients' QOL, the medical and nursing staff can take specific countermeasures to help patients gain a higher QOL. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd and ISBI.