Personality characteristics and perceived health problems after burn injury

The relationship between personality traits and the perceived outcome of burn injury I to 18 years (mean, 9.2 years) after severe burn injury was evaluated in 166 individuals treated at the Uppsala Burn Unit. The perceived outcome was measured with the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) and was related to personality traits evaluated by means of the Swedish universities Scales of Personality. After controlling for age at inquiry, time since injury, burn area, and sex, a stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed an association between the Swedish universities Scales of Personality domain Neuroticism and Bad outcome in all BSHS-B domains, both psychosocial and physical, and Insufficient outcome in the domains Work, Body image, Affect, and BSHS-B total score. The neurotic traits Somatic trait anxiety, Psychic trait anxiety, Stress susceptibility, Embitterment, and Mistrust each or in different combinations explained the observed relationships. The data suggest that personality is related to health status because it is perceived a long time after severe burn injury and that its effect is not confined only to psychological but also to physical aspects of life.