Anxiety, depression and PTSD-related symptoms in spouses and close relatives of burn survivors: When the supporter needs to be supported.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of anxiety, depression and PTSD-related symptoms reported by spouses and close relatives of adult burn survivors. Potential associations between these symptoms and variables such as the severity of the burn were also explored.

Method: Participants were spouses (n=31) and close relatives (n=25) of hospitalized patients with acute burns. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed by the Hospital Distress Anxiety and Depression Scale and PTSD-related symptoms by the Modified PTSD Symptom Scale at both admission to and discharge from the burn unit.

Results: At admission, 77% of spouses and 56% of close relatives of burn patients reported anxiety, depression or PTSD-related symptoms in the clinical range. While spouses had higher scores than close relatives on symptom measures, significant differences were only established for anxiety symptoms (p<.02). A significant effect was found for gender, with women reporting more anxiety (p=.01) and depression (p=.02) symptoms than men. Results also showed a main effect for time, with anxiety (p<.0001), depression (p<.0001) and PTSD-related (p<.0001) symptoms being higher at admission than at discharge. Variables associated with the index patient, such as total body surface area burned, length of stay, number of ventilated days, facial burns, or level of care at admission, were not associated with outcome measures.

Conclusions: Spouses and close relatives of burn survivors showed high levels of psychological distress in the first few days following admission, and more than a quarter still reported symptoms in the clinical range at discharge. Our analysis points to the need to offer psychological support and guidance to family members so that they can in turn provide effective support to the burn survivor.