AUTHOR=Weissman Oren , Domniz Noam , Petashnick Yoel R. , Gilboa Dalia , Raviv Tal , Barzilai Liran , Farber Nimrod , Harats Moti , Winkler Eyal , Haik Josef 

TITLE=Examining the Correlation between Objective Injury Parameters, Personality Traits, and Adjustment Measures among Burn Victims

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00049

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2015.00049

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Burn victims experience immense physical and mental hardship during their process of rehabilitation and regaining functionality. We examined different objective burn-related factors as well as psychological ones, in the form of personality traits that may affect the rehabilitation process and its outcome.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> To assess the influence and correlation of specific personality traits and objective injury-related parameters on the adjustment of burn victims post-injury.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Sixty-two male patients admitted to our burn unit due to burn injuries were compared with 36 healthy male individuals by use of questionnaires to assess each group’s psychological adjustment parameters. Multivariate and hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to identify differences between the groups.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A significant negative correlation was found between the objective burn injury severity (e.g., total body surface area and burn depth) and the adjustment of burn victims (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001, Table <xref ref-type="table" rid="T3">3</xref>). Moreover, patients more severely injured tend to be more neurotic (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), and less extroverted and agreeable (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01, Table <xref ref-type="table" rid="T4">4</xref>).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Extroverted burn victims tend to adjust better to their post-injury life while the neurotic patients tend to have difficulties adjusting. This finding may suggest new tools for early identification of maladjustment-prone patients and therefore provide them with better psychological support in a more dedicated manner.</p>