Background and Aim : There is no greater trauma than major
burn injury, which can create a wide range of physical and psychological effects on patients lives, and one of the well-known and significant complications is fatigue that is not addressed in the follow-up of these patients and is rarely captured in outcomes studies. We aimed to describe the prevalence, and predictors, of moderate to severe fatigue in the first 12 months following burn, and establish the association between fatigue and health-related quality of life. Methods : This cross-sectional analytic study has been done on 310 hospitalized patients with burns in Velayat Sub-Specialty Burn and Plastic Surgery Center, Rasht, Iran, who were selected through systematic random sampling. A questionnaire including demographic and socioeconomic,
burn size and severity predictors of moderate/severe fatigue and the Brief
Fatigue Inventory (BFI), 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) and Burns Specific Health Scale Brief(BSHS-B) was used. Moderate to severe fatigue was defined as a global BFI score of 4–10. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistical tests. Results : The mean _SD age of the 310 participants was 36.4±18.3 years and had a median TBSA of 21%. 61% of the participants were male and 39.8% were scald burns. The prevalence of moderate/ severe fatigue was 43% at 12-months after injury. The results showed a significant relationship between age ,TBSA and occupation of participants and fatigue (p<0.05). The adjusted odds of moderate/severe fatigue were higher for women compared to men, and higher in patients with TBSA > 20%. The physical and mental health summary scores, and each sub-scale score, of the SF-12 and BSHS-B were significantly lower in patients reporting moderate/severe fatigue. Patients experiencing moderate to severe fatigue reported lower quality of life on the BSHS-B scale. Conclusion : Our results suggest that fatigue is prevalent in burnt patient and many of participants reported moderate to severe fatigue on the BFI at 12-months. Older age, female gender and increased percentage of full-thickness burns per body surface area were important predictors of poorer physical health status at 12 months.