National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Burn Model System: Review of Program and Database.

The database includes only four clinical centers and focuses on more severe burn injuries, so it is not representative of all people with burn injury in the United States. Most data are self-report, which can be affected by recall, selection, and response bias. Follow-up was incomplete: 72% of enrolled participants had some data at 6 months, 63% at 12 months, and 54% at 24 months. Longer-term follow-up was also incomplete: 54% of participants for whom data collectors attempted to locate at 5 years had data, and 48% of participants for whom data collectors attempted to locate at 10 years had data. Of 7228 eligible patients, 472 were not alive at discharge, 779 did not consent, and 65 were not approached, and the enrollment window closes 30 days after discharge. Race and ethnicity recording changed in 2015, which accounts for missing data. The article is a program and database review, not a controlled clinical trial, so it does not test treatment effects. The site-specific examples listed in the article are cited from other studies, not new results of this review.

The Burn Model System centers were funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, with U.S. government Public Health Service research support. The supplied text does not report author conflict-of-interest disclosures.

Do not read this paper as evidence that physical or occupational therapy improves burn outcomes. It describes a database that records services and tracks results, and it lists examples from other site-specific studies, not results of this review.