A longitudinal study on psychological reactions and resilience among young survivors of a burn disaster in Taiwan 2015-2018.
Chia-Yi Wu, Ming-Been Lee, Chi-Hung Lin and 3 others
PMID 31657485WHAT IT FOUND
Distress, suicide risk and post-traumatic symptoms fell over the first two years after a major burn disaster, then many indicators rose again by the third interview.
Clinicians should keep watching for sleep, mood and substance-use problems long after discharge.
Key findings
01Psychological distress, suicide risk and post-traumatic symptoms generally decreased from baseline to the second interview, but many indicators increased again at the final interview.
02Working disturbance and itch-related distress were the most common negative life changes, and negative life disturbance decreased across the follow-up.
03Mental health service need remained at about 5% to 7% at the highest level across interviews, while satisfaction with government assessment and referrals was 32% to 45%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only survivors who agreed to government follow-up were analysed, so people who refused or could not be contacted may have been different. There was no pre-disaster mental health baseline, so changes cannot be compared with each person's earlier symptoms. The study did not use a resilience scale or qualitative methods to explain coping, so resilience was inferred from symptom and functioning patterns. The New Taipei City Government funded the study, designed it and collected data, and survivors were receiving case-management, medical and rehabilitation services during follow-up. The cohort was young and came from one burn disaster, so findings may not apply to older survivors or non-disaster burns. Outcomes were self-reported telephone interviews, not clinical diagnoses or independent physical function tests.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The New Taipei City Government funded the project, designed the study and performed data collection, while the researchers analysed and interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the falling distress scores as proof that case management or rehabilitation caused recovery. Participants received several services at once, including case management, medical care, rehabilitation, pain management, exercises and muscle relaxation, and there was no control group.