Sarah McGarry1, Sally Burrows2, Tanya Ashoorian3, Trisha Pallathil3, Katherine Ong3, Dale W Edgar4, Fiona Wood5. 1. Fiona Wood Foundation, Western Australia, Australia State Adult Burn Unit, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Australia. Electronic address: sarah.mcgarry@health.wa.gov.au. 2. School of Medicine & Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia. 3. University of Western Australia, Australia. 4. Burn Injury Research Node, The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle; State Adult Burn Unit, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch; Fiona Wood Foundation, Western Australia, Australia. 5. University of Western Australia-Burn Injury Research Unit, Fiona Wood Foundation, Burns Service of Western Australia, Australia.
Abstract
UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental health and self-reported itch in patients with burns across a 6 month time period and to test the hypothesis that poorer mental health outcomes are associated with increased severity of itch. METHOD: A quantitative study with three time points for data collection was conducted. Participants (232) completed assessments at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after burn injury. The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) was used to report itch and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) provided an assessment of mental health across time. Only data from the itch and mental health subscales were used in the analysis. To analyze the data a quantile regression model was used. RESULTS: Mental health is significantly associated with itch after adjusting for variation in itch over time (p=0.001). The regression coefficient indicates that as mental health increases by one unit, itch decreases by 0.03. Of importance, the relationship remained significant after adjusting for total burn surface area (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest there is a relationship between mental health and itch. Given the powerful impact itch can have on an individual's wellbeing health professionals can begin to further investigate itch from a bio-psychosocial perspective. Further research to investigate causal relationships between mental health and itch is important.
UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental health and self-reported itch in patients with burns across a 6 month time period and to test the hypothesis that poorer mental health outcomes are associated with increased severity of itch. METHOD: A quantitative study with three time points for data collection was conducted. Participants (232) completed assessments at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after burn injury. The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) was used to report itch and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) provided an assessment of mental health across time. Only data from the itch and mental health subscales were used in the analysis. To analyze the data a quantile regression model was used. RESULTS: Mental health is significantly associated with itch after adjusting for variation in itch over time (p=0.001). The regression coefficient indicates that as mental health increases by one unit, itch decreases by 0.03. Of importance, the relationship remained significant after adjusting for total burn surface area (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest there is a relationship between mental health and itch. Given the powerful impact itch can have on an individual's wellbeing health professionals can begin to further investigate itch from a bio-psychosocial perspective. Further research to investigate causal relationships between mental health and itch is important.
Authors: Keith T S Tung; Rosa S Wong; Frederick K Ho; Ko Ling Chan; Wilfred H S Wong; Hugo Leung; Ming Leung; Gilberto K K Leung; Chun Bong Chow; Patrick Ip Journal: JMIR Public Health Surveill Date: 2022-08-18