| Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients surviving a burn injury.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 burn inpatients (50 males and 50 females)
admitted to Sina Burn Center; Tabriz University of Medical Sciences during 2012.The severity and grade of burn injury
was evaluated by a dermatologist. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used to evaluate the existence and severity
of depressive symptoms.
Results: In this study, 56% of burn patients suffered from depressive symptoms. Among these, 38 (38%) patients were
identified with low, 13 (13%) with moderate and 5 (5%) with severe depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms
were reported in 20 (40%) males and 36 (72%) females. Moreover, depressive symptoms were observed in 15 (26.3%)
patients with a total body surface area (TBSA) less than 30% and 41 (73.2%) with TBSA more than 30%.
Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are common in burn patients and was twice as common among women.
Psychological interventions along with the medical therapy should be provided for these patients |