Objective  To understand the disease uncertainty and its influencing factors among family members of burn patients, and to provide a basis for medical staff to implement intervention measures and improve the quality of nursing.

  Methods  Totally 87 family members of burn patients admitted to a tertiary hospital were surveyed with a general questionnaire for patients and/or family members, the Chinese version of the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Family Member (MUIS-FM), and the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). The correlation between the scores of these two scales was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis, and the influencing factors of the MUIS-FM score were analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis.

  Results  The total score of disease uncertainty among family members of burn patients was (83.11 ±11.99) points, and the total score of social support was (34.77 ±8.28) points. There was a negative correlation between the objective support dimension score of SSRS and the ambiguity dimension score of MUIS-FM (r=-0.227, P < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between the utilization degree of support dimension score of SSRS and the unpredictability dimension score of MUIS-FM (r=-0.271, P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the burn patients' family members from rural areas had a higher disease uncertainty score (β= 9.199, P < 0.001) compared with those from urban areas.

  Conclusions  Family members of burn patients had severe disease uncertainty and got social support at an average level. Medical staff should pay attention to the material and psychological needs of patients' family members from rural areas or with low education levels in time, communicate with and educate them in various ways and levels, improve their quality of care for patients, and make patients recover as soon as possible.