Investigating the Impact of Rehabilitation Interventions on Health-Related Quality of Life in Burn Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background & Aim: Burn complications lead to permanent psychological, physical, and social changes in patients, thereby disrupting their quality of life.The present meta-analysis study was conducted to determine the effect of rehabilitation interventions on health-related quality of life in burn patients. Materials & Methods:In this systematic review, the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, SID, Magiran, and Iranmedex databases were searched to identify English and Persian clinical trial articles without time restrictions.The Cochrane checklist was used to assess the risk of bias in the articles.Data analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.The I² index was used to examine heterogeneity between studies, while the funnel plot and Egger test were used to assess publication bias.The standardized mean difference (SMD) index and the random effects method were used to combine studies and perform the meta-analysis.Results: Initially, 641 articles were retrieved from the database search.After removing duplicates and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles were systematically reviewed, and 10 articles were included in the meta-analysis.The results of the meta-analysis, based on the random-effects model using the Trim and Fill method, showed a standardized mean difference of SMD = 1.96 (CI: 1.02-2.33,p = 0.001), indicating a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups.The health-related quality of life in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group. Conclusion:The results of this study demonstrate that rehabilitation interventions improve the healthrelated quality of life in burn patients.Therefore, these interventions can be used as an evidence-based decision-making tool by healthcare providers to enhance the quality of life for these patients.