• Fan Peng, Chi-Hsiang Chung, Wan-Ying Koh, Wu-Chien Chien, and Ching-En Lin.
• Department of Psychiatry, Shuang-Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC; School of Post-baccalaureate Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC.
• Burns. 2024 Jun 1; 50 (5): 131513291315-1329.

ObjectiveThis investigation identified the association between burn injuries and the risk of mental disorders in patients with no documented pre-existing psychiatric comorbidities. We also examined the relationship of injury severity and the types of injury with the likelihood of receiving new diagnoses of mental disorders.MethodsThis population-based retrospective cohort study used administrative data extracted from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) between 2000 and 2013. In total, 10,045 burn survivors were matched with a reference cohort of 40,180 patients without burn injuries and were followed to determine if any mental disorder was diagnosed. Patients diagnosed with mental disorders in the five years before study initiation were excluded to ensure incident diagnoses throughout the research duration. Generalized estimating equations in Cox proportional hazard regression models were used for data analysis.ResultsIn general, burn injury survivors have a 1.21-fold risk of being diagnosed with new mental disorders relative to patients without burn injuries. Total body surface area (TBSA) of ≧ 30% (aHR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.36-1.63) and third- or fourth-degree burns (aHR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.37-1.63) had a significantly greater risk of being diagnosed with mental disorders in comparison to the reference cohort. Patients TBSA 10-29% (aHR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77-0.93) and first- or second-degree burn victims (aHR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81-0.97) had relatively lower risk of mental disorders than the reference cohort.ConclusionBurn injuries were associated with an increased risk of mental disorders. Additional research in this field could elucidate this observation, especially if the inherent limitations of the NHIRD can be overcome.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Burns Injuries. All rights reserved.

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