Psychological impact of burns on children treated in a severe burns unit

The aims of this study were to analyse the types of incident which cause children's burns, to investigate emotional reactions and associated behaviour afterward and to ascertain post-admission sequelae. A total of 83 young people took part, aged 1–17 years, with a mean 12% (range 1.5–47%, S.D. 8.0) total body surface area burned. According to the results from the psychometric scales and questionnaire used, most burns were the result of domestic incidents. Older children scored higher in anxiety. The most common behavioural reactions observed (attachment, wish to go back home) reflect the particularity of these patients compared with other samples of children in hospital. With respect to post-admission sequelae, no relevant results were obtained.