Inpatient depression in persons with burns.

In this investigation the authors collected data regarding trait anxiety, well-being, and depression from 209 men and women who had been screened for prior psychiatric diagnosis and treated in an acute-care setting for burn injuries. Well-being was measured in reference to the month before the burn injury, whereas level of depression was self-rated by patients within 2 days of hospitalization, 5 days later, and 5 days after that. Ratings of depression were also obtained 1 month after hospital discharge. Results indicated that few patients rated their depression as severe at any point in time. Depression scores decreased significantly across the hospitalization period and were correlated with burn size, trait anxiety, and well-being. Depression ratings after discharge were significantly related to depression scores obtained at the end of the inpatient phase of the study. Although most patients did not report experiencing severe levels of depression, the stability of scores across time suggests the usefulness of early screening procedures. Catching such problems early may head off longer-term difficulties.