Factors influencing psychological, social and health outcomes after major burn injuries in adults: cohort study protocol

Introduction The goal of burn care is that 'the quality of the outcome must be worth the pain of survival'. More research is needed to understand how best to deliver care for patients with burns to achieve this aim. Loss of independence, function as well as loss of income for patients with burns and carers cause a significant burden at both individual and societal levels. Much is being done to advance knowledge in the clinical care field; however, there has been a paucity of research exploring psychosocial outcomes. This paper describes the study background and methods, as implemented in an Australian cohort study of psychosocial outcomes after major burn injuries