Dr Megan Simons^1,2, Professor Roy Kimble^2,3,4, Dr Zephanie Tyack²

¹Department of Occupational Therapy, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane, Australia, ²Centre for Children’s Burns and Trauma Research, Child Health Research Centre, Level 7, Centre for Children’s Health Research, South Brisbane, Australia, ³Department of Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Neonatal Surgery, Burns and Trauma, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane, Australia, ⁴School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, , St Lucia, Australia

Abstract:
Background: This presentation aims is to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile (BBSIP) for children under 8 years.  The BBSIP is a burn-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure consisting of 8 dimensions: overall impact; sensory symptoms; school, play and daily activities; friendships and social interaction; appearance; emotional reactions; physical symptoms; and parent and family concerns .

Method: Data was collected between April 2013 to July 2016.  A 2-week interval was used for test-retest and a 1-month interval for responsiveness. Test-retest reliability was tested using intra-class correlation coefficients and concurrent validity using Spearman’s rho to test  pre-specified hypotheses.

Results: Eighty-six caregivers of children aged 2 months to nearly 8 years participated (median TBSA 1.5%, IQR = 3.5%, range <1%-36%). Reliability was supported for most BBSIP sub-scales  (ICC = 0.68-0.85). Correlations with similar constructs from the POSAS (patient report) and PedsQL were medium to large at baseline (ρ = 0.36 to 0.52; ρ = -0.49 to -0.60) supporting validity.

Discussion: The use of a reliable and valid burn-specific, paediatric HRQOL measure such as the BBSIP to identify children and their families at risk of health problems as a result of their burn scarring will be discussed. It is proposed that the BBSIP can aid in determining the burden of burn scarring on patients and families as well as reliably measuring the effectiveness of interventions on burn scarring over time in a paediatric population.

Biography:
Dr Megan Simons is an occupational therapist who has worked in paediatric burn care for over 20 years. With Dr Zephanie Tyack, she has developed the first burn scar health-related quality of life measure – the Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile. They published in 2016 on the validity of the measure, and have recently submitted for publication the findings about the reliability of the adult version of the Profile. This is the first presentation regarding the paediatric versions of the instrument.