The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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The share of total hospital Canadian burn care provided by 17 of Canada's 27 present burn units increased marginally to 18.3% in 1991 from 17.0% in 1981 (p = 0.0506), and the mortality rate decreased from 5.6% in 1981 to 3.5% in 1991 (p < 0.05). In 10 units providing serial data, patients with burns undergoing ventilation therapy for a concomitant smoke inhalation injury increased from 6.3% (n = 58) of 1981 admissions to 11.1% (n = 73) of 1991 admissions (p < 0.05). In 1991 Canada's 27 burn units treated 32.4% of Canada's hospitalized patients with burns and provided 50.6% of hospital burn care days. Although the total number of patients with burns hospitalized in Canada decreased by 35% from 7923 in 1981 to 5161 in 1991 (32.6 to 18.9 per 100,000 population), with a proportional decrease in patients treated in burn units, the requirement for intensive care unit capability to treat patients undergoing ventilation therapy has remained the same or is greater and must be preserved as burn units shrink.
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Life for pediatric survivors of burns appears difficult to most observers. In an assessment by use of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), survivors' parents reported that approximately 30% of the children had significant problems. The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were used to gather further information concerning the children's personal and social sufficiency and functioning. ⋯ The Vineland adaptive behavior domains correlated positively with the CBCL total competence scores, whereas the Vineland maladaptive behavior correlated positively with the CBCL total behavior score. Although it supports previous findings that parents of burned children see them as having problems after burn, this study elaborates on and differentiates among their difficulties in adapting to their life situations. These findings not only affirm the importance of attending to parental perceptions of burned children but also identify specific areas to be targeted for psychosocial rehabilitation of burned children.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Sep 1995
The Vancouver Scar Scale: an administration tool and its interrater reliability.
The Burn Scar Index, often called the Vancouver Scar Scale, is widely used in clinical practice and research to document change in scar appearance. Several sections of the Index require equipment to accurately score the items. ⋯ We recently devised a pocket-sized tool to aid in scoring the scar and to increase staff compliance in use of the Index. With this tool interrater reliability is good, which makes the Burn Scar Index a viable measure for research.