Outcomes of exercise training for individuals with functional impairments following major burn injury

[Truncated abstract] The long-term functional outcome of burn-injured patients may be detrimentally affected by the typical sequelae of events following injury including; hypermetabolism, prolonged inactivity, increased protein catabolism, loss of muscle strength and lean body-mass (LBM) and decreased aerobic capacity. It has been demonstrated that exercise rehabilitation significantly improves muscle strength, LBM, aerobic capacity, pulmonary function (PF) and range of motion in children recovering from burn injury. However the benefits of exercise training programmes for adults following burn injury are relatively unknown. Therefore the overarching aim of this research was to investigate the impact of a combined interval training and resistance exercise programme for adults recovering from burn injury. Firstly, we needed to decipher if exercise training would be an appropriate intervention for adults with long-term functional deficits following burn injury. The International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF), is a theoretical classification scheme that incorporates all aspects of functioning (impairment, activity limitation and participation restrictions). It is only when information on all three dimensions of functioning are collected that we gain a complete understanding of an individual’s functional outcome. The first paper presented in this thesis aimed to assess how implementing outcome measures at all levels of the ICF could enhance our understanding of the complex functional deficits faced by long-term survivors of burn injury, with a view to appropriately targeting therapeutic interventions. An example case was presented. All outcome measures employed were chosen to ensure that the patients’ specific impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions could be assessed.