Burden of Burns Treatment as Perceived by Patients and Care Givers at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Enugu

ABSTRACT This study aimed at determining the burden of burns treatment as perceived by patients and care givers of under-aged patients at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu. Four objectives and three hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive cross sectional survey design was used for the study. Forty five (45) patients and twelve (12) care givers of under-aged burn patients were studied. The data were collected with two questionnaires adapted from Kildal (2008) - one for adult burn patients and the other for care givers of under-aged burns patients. These were analyzed with the aid of IBM statistical package for social sciences version 20.0. Mean, frequencies, percentages, standard deviation, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and point Bi-serial correlation were the statistics used. P < .05 was considered statistically significant. Major findings revealed that burns patients and care givers of under-aged burns patients experienced physical, financial, psychological and social burden. There was no significant relationship between age and psychological burden (P > 0.05), as well as between gender and social burden (P > 0.05). Significant relationship existed between percentage area of burn injury and physical burden of adult burns patients (P < 0.05). However no significant relationship existed between percentage area of burn of under-aged patients and physical burden of care givers of these patients (P > 0.05). Based on these findings, it was concluded that burdens are perceived by burns patients and their care givers. These burdens are increasingly perceived with increased total burns surface area and long hospitalization involved in the course of treatment. The study recommends the integration of patients in their care for improved patient outcome, arrangements for patients to meet with burns survivors to raise their hope, training and retraining of nursing manpower/utility staff to assist patients incapacitated by extensive burns, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for all to reduce out of pocket expenses and financial burden.