PMH27 Burn Injury Is Associated with the Incidence of Psychiatric Disorders in German Primary Care Patients

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the association between burn injury and the incidence of psychiatric disorders in men and women without any pre-existing psychiatric comorbidity who were followed for up to five years in general practices in Germany This study included patients receiving an initial diagnosis of burn injury in one of 1,178 general practices in Germany between 2015 and 2018 (index date). Individuals without burn injury were matched (1:1) to those with burn injury by sex, age, index year, and general practice. For patients without burn injury, the index date corresponded to a randomly selected visit date between 2015 and 2018. Study variables included burn injury with body region, psychiatric disorders (i.e. depression, anxiety disorders, reaction to severe stress and adjustment disorders, and somatoform disorders), sex, age, and the Charlson Comorbidity Index. The association between burn injury and the incidence of psychiatric disorders was studied using Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox regression models. There were 9,099 patients with and 9,099 patients without burn injury included in the study (53.8% of women; mean [standard deviation] age 45.4 [18.5] years). After five years of follow-up, 29.4% of patients with burn injury and 26.2% of those without burn injury were diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder (log-rank p-value<0.001). Furthermore, there was a positive and significant association between burn injury and the incidence of psychiatric disorders (hazard ratio=1.32, 95% confidence interval=1.22-1.43). Burn injury was positively associated with the incidence of psychiatric disorders in individuals followed for up to five years in general practices in Germany. Taking these findings together, general practitioners and other health professionals involved in the management of burn injury survivors should be aware of the fact that this population is at a particular risk of being subsequently diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.