A 1 year comparison of a Community Based Exercise Program versus a Day-Hospital based exercise program on Quality of Life and Mental Health in Severely Burned Children.

To compare the effects of long term psychosocial functioning and mental health of a "Day-Hospital" Based Exercise Program (DAYEX) versus a Community Based Exercise Program (COMBEX).This was a prospective design that consisted of two groups (DAYEX and COMBEX).A children's hospital specialized in burn care (Shriner's Hospitals for Children, Inc., Galveston, Texas) PARTICIPANTS: A total of 18 patients, (n=9 DAYEX and n=9 COMBEX) were assessed at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge and up to 1 year post burn.The Child Health Questionnaires (CHQ-Child/CF87 and Parent/PF28) were used to assess changes in quality of life from discharge to 1 year post-burn.CHQ-PF28 and CHQ-CF87 RESULTS: Demographic and TBSA were similar in both groups. Length of hospital stay was significant in the COMBEX group. CHQ-CF87 and CHQ-PF28 document significant improvements in both groups between discharge and 1 year. Significance was evident in Physical Functioning, Bodily Pain, Self Esteem, Change in Health, and Family Activities. CHQ-CF87 showed improvement in Family Cohesion in COMBEX more than DAYEX. CHQ-PF28 showed improvement in Role/Social Limitations - Emotional, Bodily Pain, and Family Activities in COMBEX more than DAYEX.The proposed COMBEX program shows to be feasible and beneficial physically, psychosocially, and mentally. The results show some improvements in the COMBEX group in optimizing function and health in severely burned children. The COMBEX group performed at least as well as the DAYEX group. Larger scale studies are needed to validate current findings.