The relationship between social participation and health-related quality of life two years after burn injury: A Burn Model System national database study

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Background

Burn survivors experience lower levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) compared to U.S. population norms one year post injury. Research suggests that social support predicts functional outcomes, and while studies comparing impact of life satisfaction on HRQOL following burn injury, there is less known about the role of social participation. The current study sought to examine the roles of social participation and satisfaction with life pre-injury on HRQOL at two years post-injury.

Methods

Data from participants (N = 139) was collected from the Burn Model System (BMS) database between October 2018 and May 2022. Measures collected at 24-months post injury included: LIBRE (Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation) Social Activities and Social Interaction subscales and VR-12 mental component summary score (Mental-CS) and physical component summary score (Physical-CS). Additional measures included: Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) collected at discharge for pre-injury recall and Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) collected at discharge for pre-injury recall and at two years post burn injury.

Results

After adjusting for sex, pre-burn psychiatric treatment, %TBSA burn size, burn center, presence of burns to the head or neck, and pre-injury or two years post-burn injury community integration, LIBRE Social Interaction (p = .002) and LIBRE Social Activities (p < 0.01) were both positively associated with Mental-CS. While LIBRE Social Activities was positively associated with Physical-CS (p < 0.001), LIBRE Social Interaction was not. There was minimal evidence to support an interaction/moderation effect of the relationship between LIBRE Social Activities and Mental-CS as well as LIBRE Social Interaction and Physical-CS by pre-injury SWLS.

Conclusions

These findings strengthen the need to attend to psychosocial factors in rehabilitation after burn injury, particularly social participation. Future studies should continue to examine longitudinal outcomes and begin to study the effective interventions and timepoint(s) to improve social participation and HRQOL outcomes for burn survivors.

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