Psychiatric status, prevention, and outcome in patients with burns: A prospective study

One hundred consecutive patients admitted to the Tampa Bay Regional Burn Ce nter mere assessed to determine cause of injury, preburn psychiatric status , and outcome (survival, length of stay in the hospital, and emergence of n ew psychiatric or physiologic disorders). Patients with psychiatric disorde rs were more likely to have injuries that mere preventable, and there was a trend for this group to have more emergent psychiatric disorders and longe r lengths of hospital stay. We suggest that the Burn Severity Index might b e revised to include the presence of preburn psychiatric disorders and then be evaluated in a larger group with use of the Burn Registry.