Physical functional outcome assessment of patients with major burns admitted to a UK Burn Intensive Care Unit

Determining the discharge outcome of burn patients can be challenging and therefore a validated objective measure of functional independence would assist with this process. We developed the Functional Assessment for Burns (FAB) score to measure burn patients’ functional independence. FAB scores were taken on discharge from ICU (FAB 1) and on discharge from inpatient burn care (FAB 2) in 56 patients meeting the American Burn Association criteria for major burn. We retrospectively analysed prospectively collected data to measure the progress of patients’ physical functional outcomes and to evaluate the predictive validity of the FAB score for discharge outcome. Mean age was 38.6 years and median burn size 35%. Significant improvements were made in the physical functional outcomes between FAB 1 and FAB 2 scores (p < 0.0001). 48 patients were discharged home, 8 of these with social care. 8 patients were transferred to another hospital for further inpatient rehabilitation. FAB 1 score (≤9) is strongly associated with discharge outcome (p < 0.006) and as such can be used to facilitate early discharge planning. FAB 2 score (≤26) independently predicts discharge outcome (p < 0.0001) and therefore is a valid outcome measure to determine discharge outcome of burn patients.