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Introduction: Community-level disadvantage is associated with reduced quality of life after burn injury. We evaluated the association between community-level disadvantage and return to work after burn injury., Methods: A multicenter burn injury database was queried from 1998-2021. Participants 18-65 years old with documented employment status and ZIP codes were included. Exposures were community distress (Distressed Communities Index, DCI), patient demographics, and burn characteristics. The primary outcome was odds of employment 6 months after burn injury using stepwise logistic regression models, first with patient-level variables, then DCI. An interaction term was included to evaluate the modification of DCI and post-injury employment by race., Results: 1960 participants were included, with a median age of 39.2 years (IQR 29.2, 49.3); 81 % were White, 75 % male, and 74 % were working at the time of injury. Participants unemployed 6 months post-injury were more often older, female, non-White, and unemployed at injury, with larger burn sizes and longer hospitalizations. 59 % of participants unemployed at 6 months were employed at the time of injury. Residence in the highest distress ZIP codes was associated with 2.21 (95 % CI 1.39-3.52) odds of 6 month unemployment. Older age, larger burn size, more operations, Black race, and pre-injury unemployment were associated with the greatest odds of unemployment. The interaction between race and DCI was not statistically significant., Conclusion: Patients from the highest distress communities have twice the odds of unemployment 6 months after injury. This association did not vary by race. Screening for DCI by ZIP code may be a useful tool to focus vocational rehabilitation resources., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no financial conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: Access to healthcare and insurance coverage are associated with quality of life, morbidity, and mortality outcomes. However, most studies have only focused on same-admission and short-term outcomes due to the lack of national longitudinal datalthere are limited data on this topic in the burn literature. Our aim was to determine the effect of insurance status on long-term outcomes in a national sample of burn patients., Methods: This retrospective study used the longitudinal Burn Model System National Database from January 1997 to December 2020. The inclusion criteria were all adult patients admitted for burn injury from participating sites. Main outcomes were the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health component summary scores of the Veterans RAND 12 (VR-12) score at 6, 12, and 24 months after injury. Adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, multivariable regression was used to examine the association between insurance status and the outcomes., Results: A total of 1809 burn patients were included. Most patients had private/commercial insurance (60.42 %), followed by Medicare (13.99 %) and Medicaid (12.77 %). The remaining 13 % were uninsured patients (self-pay or philanthropy). In adjusted analyses, Medicaid insurance was associated with worse MCS at 6 months (Coefficient -4.24, 95 % CI -6.06 - -2.41) and 12 months (Coefficient -3.62, 95 % CI -5.68 - -1.57), and worse PCS at all timepoints, compared to private/commercial insurance. Medicare insurance was associated with worse MCS scores at 12 months (Coefficient -2.86, 95 % CI -5.06 - -0.66) and worse PCS scores at all timepoints., Conclusion: Having Medicaid and Medicare insurance was significantly associated with a lower health-related quality of life at long-term follow up, even after adjusting for demographics and burn injury severity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: An area of rehabilitation research in burns is the impact of co-morbidities on disease trajectory. Obesity is a comorbidity of increasing public health concern, but its role remains controversial regarding burn injury and physical recovery. Our aim was to evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) categories as a measure of obesity at discharge and self-reported physical function (PF) during recovery of adult burn survivors., Methods: This is a retrospective study on data collected by four major US burn centers, which contribute to the Burn Model System National Database. The data included BMI obtained at hospital discharge and self-reported PF-mobility, using the PROMIS measures assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months after burn. Subjects were classified into weight status categories based on BMI: underweight (BMI <18.5), normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI <25), overweight (25 ≤ BMI <30), obesity class 1 (30 ≤ BMI <35), obesity class 2 (35 ≤ BMI <40), and obesity class 3 (BMI ≥40). Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to assess the association between BMI categories and PF scores over time, adjusted for patient and injury characteristics., Results: A total of 496 adult burn patients aged 47 ± 16 years were included, with mean total body surface area (TBSA) burned of 18 ± 19 % and mean BMI at discharge of 28 ± 7 kg/m2. PROMIS PF scores significantly improved over time in the recovery phase after burn (time effect, p < 0.001). Compared to overweight burn patients, normal-underweights exhibited lower PF score by an average of 4.06 units (p = 0.001) but scores increased linearly by an estimated 0.17 units per month (p = 0.01) over the 24 months after discharge. Similarly, compared to overweight burn patients, class 1 obese reported lower PF score by a mean 2.67 units (p = 0.07) but PF increased linearly by 0.15 units per month (p = 0.07) over the 24 months after discharge. These findings were independent of the effects of age at discharge, sex, TBSA burned, and hand and leg burn., Conclusion: Being overweight was associated with improved and faster recovery of PF scores compared to normal, underweight, and obese burn patients during long-term recovery. Hence, our data suggests that long-term recovery and restoration of PF in adult burn survivors is not compromised by a small excess in body weight., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest other than SEW is the Editor of this journal., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Burns Injuries. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Heterotopic ossification (HO), or ectopic bone formation in soft tissue, is a not so rare and poorly understood debilitating sequela of burn injury. Individuals developing HO following burn injuries to their hands often experience reductions in mobility, significant contractures, and joint pain. This study identifies demographic characteristics of individuals who develop HO and compares their physical and psychosocial outcomes to the general burn population., Methods: Participant demographics, injury characteristics, and PROMIS-29 scores across three time points (discharge, six- and 12- months after injury) were extracted from the Burn Model System National Longitudinal Database representing participants from 2015-2022. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to compare PROMIS scores across all three longitudinal measurements. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, HO status, and burn size., Results: Of the 861 participants with data concerning HO, 33 were diagnosed with HO (3.8% of participants). Most participants with HO were male (n = 24, 73%) and had an average age of 40 + /- 13 years. Participants with HO had significantly larger burn size (49 +/-23% Total Body Surface Area (TBSA)) than those without HO (16 +/-17%). Participants with HO reported significantly worse physical function, depression, pain interference and social integration scores than those without HO. After adjusting for covariables, participants with HO continued to report statistically significantly worse physical function than those without HO. Although physical functioning was consistently lower, the two populations did not differ significantly among psychosocial outcome measures., Conclusions: While HO can result in physical limitations, the translation to psychosocial impairments was not evident. Targeted treatment of HO with the goal of maximizing physical function should be a focus of their rehabilitation., Level of Evidence: 2b TYPE OF STUDY: Symptom Prevalence Study., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No authors have any conflicts of interest, financial or intellectual, to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Burns Injuries. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Increased body weight has been associated with reduced muscle wasting in the early catabolic phase after a severe burn. Yet, overweight and obese non-burn children often exhibit impaired musculoskeletal function, which may lead to poor physical function (PF). We aimed to determine the association between body mass index (BMI) at discharge and self-reported PF and caregiver proxy-reported PF during recovery of burned children., Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective multisite longitudinal study in paediatric burn patients ((8-17 y old at time of burn). PF outcome measures were self-reported mobility, proxy-reported mobility, and upper extremity PF evaluated using PROMIS measures at 6-, 12-, and 24-months after injury. Primary exposure variable was BMI-for-age at discharge., Results: A total of 118 paediatric patients, aged 11.7 ± 3.3 y, with burns covering 37.6 ± 18.8% of their total body surface area (TBSA) and BMI-for-age of 23.1 ± 5.4 kg/m 2 at discharge were analyzed. BMI at discharge was not significantly associated with self-reported mobility scores 6 months after burn (beta coefficient =-0.23, p = 0.31), had a positive effect on mobility at 12 months (beta = 0.46, p = 0.05), and no effect at 24 months after injury (beta=-0.10, p = 0.60), when adjusted for burn size. BMI did not have a significant effect on proxy-reported mobility or upper extremity PF., Conclusion: A greater BMI at discharge was associated with improved self-reported PF at 12 months after burn but not at 6 months or 24 months, which suggests a faster recovery of PF in paediatric patients of larger body weight. Our data suggests that a larger body weight does not compromise the recovery of PF after burn., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Facial burns account for persistent differences in psychosocial functioning in adult burn survivors. Although adolescent burn survivors experience myriad chronic sequelae, little is known about the effect of facial injuries. This study examines differences in long-term outcomes with and without head and neck involvement., Methods: Data collected for 392 burn survivors between 14-17.9 years of age from the Burn Model System National Database (2006-2015) were analyzed. Comparisons were made between two groups based on presence of a head and neck burn (H&N) using the following patient reported outcome measures: Satisfaction with Appearance Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Community Integration Questionnaire, and Short Form-12 Health Survey at 6, 12, and 24 months after injury. Regression analyses were used to assess association between outcome measures and H&N group at 12-months., Results: The H&N group had more extensive burns, had longer hospital stays, were more likely to be burned by fire/flame and were more likely to be Hispanic compared to the non-H&N group. Regression analysis found that H&N burn status was associated with worse SWAP scores. No significant associations were found between H&N burn status and other outcome measures., Conclusions: Adolescents with H&N burn status showed significantly worse satisfaction with appearance at 12-months after injury. Future research should examine interventions to help improve body image and coping for adolescent burn survivors with head and neck burns., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Self-inflicted burn (SIB) injuries are relatively rare, but patients may experience complex biopsychosocial challenges. This study aimed to compare long-term physical and psychological outcomes for individuals with SIB and non-SIB injuries., Methods: Records of adult SIB (n = 125) and non-SIB (n = 3604) injuries were collected from U.S. burn centers within the Burn Model System between 1993 and 2018. Assessments were administered at discharge, 6 months, 24 months, 5 years, and 10 years., Results: SIB patients were more often younger, unmarried, unemployed, male, struggling with pre-morbid psychiatric issues, and injured by fire/flame (all p < 0.001). SIB injury predicted prolonged mechanical ventilation, hospitalization, and rehabilitation (all p < 0.001). After injury, SIB patients had increased anxiety at 24 months (p = 0.0294), increased suicidal ideation at 5 years (p = 0.004), and clinically worse depression at 10 years (p = 0.0695). SIB patients had increased mortality across 24 months compared to non-SIB patients (OR = 4.706, p = 0.010)., Conclusion: SIB injuries are associated with worse physical and psychological outcomes compared to non-SIB injuries including complicated hospitalizations and chronic problems with anxiety, depression, suicidality, and mortality, even when controlling for common indicators of severity such as burn size. This underscores the importance of multidisciplinary treatment, including mental healthcare, and long-term follow-up for SIB patients. Identified pre-morbid risk factors indicate the need for targeted injury prevention., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Pediatric burns due to abuse are unfortunately relatively common, accounting for 5.8-8.8% of all cases of abuse annually. Our goal was to evaluate our 36-year experience in the evaluation and management of the victims of abuse in the North Texas area., Methods: A prospectively maintained database containing records on all admissions from 1974 through 2010 was queried for all patients aged less than 18 years. Patients admitted for management of a non-burn injury were excluded from the analysis., Results: Of 5,553 pediatric burn admissions, 297 (5.3%) were due to abuse. Children with non-accidental injuries tended to be younger (2.1 vs. 5.0 years, p<0.0001) and male (66.0 vs. 56.5%, p=0.0008). Scald was the most common mechanism of injury overall (44.8%), and was also the predominant cause of inflicted burns (89.6 vs. 42.3%, p<0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression identified age, gender, presence of a scald, contact, or chemical burn, and injury to the hands, bilateral feet, buttocks, back, and perineum to be significant predictors of abuse. Victims of abuse were also found to have worse outcomes, including mortality (5.4 vs. 2.3%, p=0.0005). After adjusting for age, mechanism of injury, and burn size, abuse remained a significant predictor of mortality (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5-7.2) CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should approach all burn injuries in young children with a high index of suspicion, but in particular those with scalds, or injuries to the buttocks, perineum, or bilateral feet should provoke suspicion. Burns due to abuse are associated with worse outcomes, including length of stay and mortality., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Since opening its doors in 1962, the Parkland Burn Center has played an important role in improving the care of burned children through basic and clinical research while also sponsoring community prevention programs. The aim of our study was to retrospectively analyze the characteristics and outcomes of pediatric burns at a single institution over 35 years., Study Design: The institutional burn database, which contains data from January 1974 until August 2010, was retrospectively reviewed. Patients older than 18 years of age were excluded. Patient age, cause of burn, total body surface area (TBSA), depth of burn, and patient outcomes were collected. Demographics were compared with regional census data., Results: Over 35 years, 5748 pediatric patients were admitted with a thermal injury. Males comprised roughly two-thirds (66.2%) of admissions. Although the annual admission rate has risen, the incidence of pediatric burn admissions, particularly among Hispanic and African American children has declined. The most common causes of admission were scald (42%), flame (29%), and contact burns (10%). Both the median length of hospitalization and burn size have decreased over time (r(2)=0.75 and 0.62, respectively). Mortality was significantly correlated with inhalation injury, size of burn, and history of abuse. It was negatively correlated with year of admission., Conclusions: Over 35 years in North Texas, the median burn size and incidence of pediatric burn admissions has decreased. Concomitantly, length of stay and mortality have also decreased., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The currently available clinical scales used to describe healed burn wounds have limitations. Quantitative measurement of the outcomes from burn therapy treatment would be useful in planning clinical care, resource allocation and research. The purpose of this study was to observe the measurements of a portable materials testing device before and after burn therapist intervention for closed burns., Methods: A recording was taken using a hand-held vacuum device to measure deformation of the skin in the same location prior to and following a treatment session with a burn therapist in an outpatient clinic at a tertiary burn center., Results: Twenty-eight subjects were recruited to the study. Statistically significant differences were noted in modulus and elasticity change between sheet and meshed split thickness autografts (p=0.0233). Positive change in modulus was correlated with increasing therapy time (R=0.46), specifically for meshed grafts (R=0.70). Positive change in modulus was noted in therapy time greater than 48 min., Conclusions: Quantitative measurement of the outcomes of burn therapies on the mechanical properties of healed burns is possible in an outpatient clinic setting. Improvement in the stiffness of burn scars was observed in treatment sessions that last at least 48 min., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)