Factors Affecting the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Burn Patients in Iran: A Qualitative Study

After traffic accidents and falls, burns are the third leading cause of accident deaths. Burns are one of the most devastating forms of injuries, and survivors after recovery need many years of rehabilitation and emotional, physical, and economic support. The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting a comprehensive management system for the treatment of burn patients with qualitative content analysis approach.

This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis method in 2018. The sample consisted of 20 experts in burn scope who were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were collected using a semi-structured face-to-face interview. Content analysis method and MAXQDA 10.0 software were used for data analysis.

Analysis of qualitative findings showed that factors affecting burn treatment management included 6 categories of pre-hospital care (5 subcategories), hospital care (12 subcategories), rehabilitation services for burn patients (5 subcategories), medical equipment (1 subcategory), prevention (3 subcategories) and human resources (3 subcategories).

According to the results, corrective actions in the field of prevention, pre-hospital, treatment and rehabilitation should be considered. Actions such as home changes, safe child monitoring, burn prevention while cooking, equipping all ambulances with basic equipment related to various types of burns, providing training to pre-hospital ambulance staff on care of burn patients, standardizing bed facilities, the burn section and attention to social skills promotion program is suggested.