Quality of life, Body image, and psychiatric implications in patients with urn trauma: preliminary study of the Italian version of Burn Specific Health Scale-brief

Abstract

Burn patients may suffer both physical and psychopatological consequences and their quality of life and the presence of psychopathological symptoms should be evacuate. The Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) is a tried and test-instrument for assessing burn patients’ quality of life. The aim of this study is to propose the Italian translation of BSHS-B and presents the preliminary results of an exploratory study. The Italian version of BSHS-B was administered to a sample group of 50 burn victims. Reliability was verified by Cronbach’s alpha, and construct validity was evaluated through correlation with the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Self-report Symptom Inventory-Revisited (SCL-90). The entire scale and two out of three domains showed Cronbach’s alpha values higher than 0.8. Significant correlations were identified between BSHS-B subscales and the SF-36 subscales Physical Pain and Social Activities. Several psychopathological SCL-90 subscales correlated with BSHS-B subscales Heat Sensivity and Body Image. It was concluded that our translation of BSHS-B was reliable and showed good construct validity. Tha drawbacks of this study are the limited size of the sample and the wide variety of types of burn injuries.