Background: The adverse consequences of burn injuries include pain and psychological
distress, which show bidirectional associations. However, much of the existing research has
relied on global measures of distress that do not separate distinct symptoms of anxiety and
depression. Purpose: The purpose is to assess the prospective effects of anxiety and
depression on pain and functional outcomes following burn injury. Methods: This article
describes a 2-year cohort study in patients hospitalized for serious burn injuries …

Recent findings have highlighted the adverse consequences of burn injuries, including pain,
physical dysfunction, and high levels of psychological distress. While these “outcome
variables” are all inter-related, prior studies have used global measures of distress which do
not separate anxiety and depression. Determining what aspects of distress are most strongly
linked with pain-related outcomes is important, since the preferred treatment approaches for
depression and anxiety may differ. We assessed the unique prospective effects of anxiety …