Psychometric properties of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised in patients one year after burn injury.

Burn injury can be a life-threatening and traumatic event. Despite considerable risk for psychological morbidity, few outcome measures have been evaluated. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) in patients 1 year after burn injury (N = 147). A principal component analysis was performed, and the results supported the three-factor structure of the IES-R. High internal consistency and intelligible associations with concurrent psychological symptoms and known risk factors for distress after trauma indicate satisfactory psychometric properties. Thus, the study supports the use of the IES-R as a screening tool for measuring traumatic distress after burn.