Assessing Return to Work Outcomes for Individuals Affected by Burn Injuries: A Comprehensive Study

Background Burn injuries can have long-lasting effects on individuals, including their ability to return to work (RTW). This study aims to comprehensively analyze factors influencing the RTW status of burn patients after their injuries. Methods A dataset containing information on gender, age groups, burn types, discharge status, burn causes, employment status, total body surface area (TBSA) burn, and more were analyzed. The dataset covered the years 2018 to 2020. Chi-square tests were used for categorical data, while Mann-Whitney U tests were used for continuous variables. The participant characteristics, activity impairment, and work results were investigated using descriptive statistics. Results The number of reported burn cases was higher among males than females in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The highest burn cases occurred within the 25-40 age group. Most of the patients were involved in manual labor-intensive work prior to burn injury, unemployed individuals also accounted for a notable proportion of the cases. Most patients analyzed for the study had sustained 20-40% TBSA burn. From a total of 1130 patients, 710 (62.83%) of patients returned to work, and (37.16%) did not RTW. Conclusion Understanding the factors influencing the RTW status of burn patients after one year is crucial for effective occupational rehabilitation. This analysis provides insights into gender differences, age distribution, burn types, discharge outcomes, causes of burn incidents, employment status, TBSA burn, and the relationship between these factors and RTW rates.