Stigma and self-esteem in facial burn patients: A correlation study.

BACKGROUND

A considerable number of burn patients have greater psychological stress due to the special trauma site. In clinical practice, it is found that medical staff pay more attention to the rehabilitation of physical function, while the mental health status of patients is greatly neglected. In contact with patients, we found that attention should be paid to the levels of stigma and self-esteem. However, there are few studies on stigma and self-esteem in patients with facial burns. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the stigma and self-esteem levels of facial burns, investigate the relationship between these two variables, and explore the influencing factors of stigma in patients with facial burns, in order to provide evidence for follow-up interventions to improve this population.

METHODS

From August 2020 to June 2021, we recruited patients with facial burns who met the inclusion criteria in one burn specialist clinic and three burn units of a tertiary A hospital in Guangzhou, China. The survey tools of this study include sociodemographic and disease-related information questionnaires, the Chinese version of the Social Impact Scale, and the self-esteem scale (these scales were validated). SPSS 25.0 software was used for data analysis through t test, analysis of variance, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression method for data statistics.

RESULTS

The total stigma score of facial burn patients was (58.01 ± 7.57), which was at a medium level; the self-esteem score was (19.72 ± 2.43), which was at a low level. Correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between the self-esteem score and the total score of stigma (r = 0.286, P < 0.01). The family per capita monthly income, education level, way of medical expenses expenditure, and self-esteem of facial burn patients were the influencing factors of their stigma, and these factors explained 33.7% of the variation in stigma (F=8.659, P＜0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with facial burns have low levels of stigma and self-esteem, which requires our efforts. In particular, there is a positive correlation between stigma and self-esteem, and self-esteem is an independent risk factor affecting stigma. Our findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing self-esteem have the potential to positively impact the reduction of stigma in this patient population.