Health Related Quality of Life of Children with Congenital Heart Disease Attending at Tertiary Level Hospital

Abstract

Background: Congenital heart disease is one of the common congenital anomaly among the children affecting growth and development of the child and increasing susceptibility of the child to failure to thrive. The objective of the study is to find out the overall health related quality of life of children with congenital heart disease.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among 150 children with congenital heart disease attending in the pediatric out-patient department of Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, Bansbari, Kathmandu. The data was collected within the period of 2017/07/16 to 2017/08/16 using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected through interview technique using semi structured questionnaire. Collected data were entered in Statistical Package for Social Science 16 version and analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The study findings revealed that more than half (52.7%) of the children had satisfactory overall health related quality of life. Health related quality of life is significantly associated with age group of the child (p=0.018), and education of mother (p=0.017)).Conclusions: It can be concluded that more than half of the children tends to have satisfactory overall health related quality of life.Ventricular septal defect is the commonest congenital heart disease. The health related quality of life of children with congenital heart disease tends to be better among those with educated mother and increasing age of the children. Therefore, awareness raising of mothers related to disease condition and care of children with congenital heart disease through mass media or proper intervention program might help to promote the quality of life of children with congenital heart disease. Keywords: Congenital heart disease; health related quality of life.

Health-related quality of life in children with congenital heart disease following interventional closure versus minimally invasive closure

“…Furthermore, a sense of uncertainty about the child’s circumstances often causes anxiety and depression in parents, and these negative emotions indirectly affect the child’s physical, emotional, and social functioning. This anxiety in parents can lead to overprotection of the children, reducing the children’s opportunities for contact and communication with the outside world and thus affecting their social and psychological adaptability, thereby reducing the HRQL levels ( 33 , 34 ). After occlusion, with the alleviation of the disease, the outlook of both parents and children tended to improve, creating a healthy and positive environment.…”

Becoming a Teenager after Early Surgical Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) Repair: Longitudinal Biopsychological Data on Mental Health and Maternal Involvement

“…Many studies have targeted the HRQOL of children with CHD, but findings are still heterogeneous. Some authors reported higher HRQOL in adolescence for those with CHD [ 19 , 28 ], while others found their HRQOL to be impaired compared to typically developing adolescents [ 30 , 31 ]. In our study of primary school-aged children [ 50 ], we found a trend in mothers of children with a VSD: mothers reported higher HRQOL in their children than the control group (child self-rating did not differ between groups).…”

“…Nevertheless, results on the perceived HRQOL of children with CHD are still inconsistent. Some studies reported satisfactory overall HRQOL with no differences or even better scores compared to non-affected controls [ 19 , 27 , 28 , 29 ], whereas other studies found these children to be at a greater risk of impaired HRQOL [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. These differences could be attributed to variability in method designs, such as the age of the children at the time of assessment [ 33 ] or the severity of CHD [ 32 ].…”

“…In addition, mothers of children with CHD have been shown to be less involved in interactions with their child [ 43 ], and the parent–child relationship seems to encounter difficulties [ 44 ]. Moreover, maternal characteristics such as a lower educational level, anxiety symptoms, or parenting stress were found to be risk factors for increased internalizing and externalizing problems [ 45 , 46 , 47 ], early delays in cognitive development (e.g., communication difficulties) [ 10 ], and lower quality of life (QoL) [ 28 ] in children with CHD. Thus, family-related variables (e.g., maternal mental health and parenting style) seem to have an even greater impact on predicting behavioral and cognitive outcomes in children with CHD than disease or surgical factors themselves [ 48 ].…”

Postoperative health-related quality of life in children with congenital heart disease: a short-term follow-up study

“…In this study, there were no significant differences in the self-rated quality of life scores of children in different age groups, but the scores were slightly higher in the 5–7 years old group than in the 8–12 years old group. The reason is that there is a certain correlation between the quality of life and the level of children's growth and development [ 18 ]. 8–12 year olds have increased analytical and comprehension skills and have made significant psychological transitions during this period.…”