In the aftermath of a catastrophic fire, emotional trauma, not physical injury is a main determinant of quality of life and psychological outcomes, according to a new study of more than 100 survivors of the Station Nightclub Fire.
The fire, which occurred on February 20, 2003, was one of the deadliest fires in American history, killing 100 people. Researchers have long known that burn victims may suffer long-term quality of life and psychological problems, but no study had ever compared the difference in impact between survivors who were physically injured and those who were not. In this recently published study, a team of investigators led by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital—where several survivors of the fire were initially treated for their burn injuries—investigated the impact of the fire on the lives and mental health of a group of survivors, with and without burn injuries.
The researchers looked at the multi-dimensional long-term effects of the event and assessed the differences in outcomes between survivors with and without physical injury in a multivariate analysis. Their results were published in PLOS One.
More than half of study participants were not injured, but they still showed levels of depression and post-traumatic stress comparable to those who were burned.
“The long-term impact of this traumatic event underscores the importance of longitudinal care for trauma survivors, with attention to those with and without physical injuries,” said Jeffrey Schneider, medical director of the Burn and Trauma Rehabilitation Program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and the study’s principal investigator.
Among the main findings of the paper were that survivors of this large fire experienced significant life disruption, including occupational, psychological and quality of life sequelae. The findings also suggest that quality of life, depression and post-traumatic stress outcomes are related to emotional trauma, not physical injury.
In addition to the Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, other participating sites included, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Shriners Hospitals for Children-Boston, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
This story was adapted from a Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital news release.
