Burns Induced Anxiety Symptoms (BIAS)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Burns Induced Anxiety Symptoms (BIAS): Is the Beck Anxiety Inventory a valid tool in a burns cohort?

• IRAS ID

  252407

• Contact name

  Marcela Vizcaychipi

• Contact email

  m.vizcaychipi@imperial.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  TBC, Clinicaltrials.gov

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  The Beck Anxiety inventory (BAI) is a validated psychometric tool used in general clinical practice to assess symptoms of anxiety. The BAI is subcategorised into somatic (body) and cognitive (mind) symptoms. Anxiety disorders commonly precipitate somatic symptoms and in the general population this can be a useful diagnostic feature. However, there is a large overlap between the somatic symptoms of anxiety and those physical symptoms encountered after a burns injury. A prime example would be ‘numbness and tingling’, which could be caused by both autonomic stimulation and cutaneous injury.

  Our research group* has received feedback patients suggesting that the symptoms listed on the inventory were caused by their skin injuries rather than by anxiety. In a previous study (Attribution bias underlying burns-induced anxiety symptoms, published in the Journal of Burns), we found that:

  - Patients reported 8 of the 21 items were felt to be more attributable to a physical cause than a psychological one (all 8 were cognitive symptoms)
  - The most commonly reported item ‘numbness or tingling’ was also the symptom that patients associated least with psychological state
  - Patients who reported BAI symptoms that were specific to a body part (e.g. face, hands) were more likely to have a burn to that area.

  High levels of somatic symptoms from burn injuries could cause artificially elevated BAI scores in this population, and this could lead to an artificially high estimate of anxiety levels in burns populations. The primary objective of this study is to investigate whether anxiety questionnaires with somatic symptoms are less valid than those with only cognitive ones.

  *Dr Vizcaychipi's clinical research group
  Research & Development, Planned Care Surgery and Clinical Support Services Division, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  Magill Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Management, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London

• REC name

  London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/LO/0845

• Date of REC Opinion

  22 Jul 2019

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion