Key result
Poor social support linked to ~239% higher risk of chronically low mental HRQoL in CHD mothers.
Why the study?
Having a child with congenital heart disease can affect parental HR-QoL, prompting investigation into long-term trajectories of maternal mental HR-QoL and risk factors for persistently low levels.
Cohort (n=125)
No
Odds Ratio: 3.39 (95% CI 1.4–8.49)
p-value: p=0.008
A quarter of mothers of children with surgically repaired congenital heart disease experience chronically low mental health-related quality of life over 13 years, strongly associated with poor social support.
Warrants social support assessment in affected mothers; hypothesis-generating for interventions and requires prospective trials before practice change.
AIMS: Having a child with congenital heart disease (CHD) can affect parental health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). We investigated the long-term trajectories of mental HRQoL (m-HRQoL) in mothers of children with CHD and examined risk factors for persistent low m-HRQoL. METHODS: One hundred twenty-five mothers of children with CHD completed a standardized questionnaire on m-HRQoL (mental subscale SF-12) after the children's first open-heart surgery and subsequently when the children were 1, 4, 6, 10, and 13 years old. A z-score for m-HRQoL was calculated with national norms. Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was used to identify subgroups of mothers with regards to their m-HRQoL trajectories over time. Regression analysis investigated predictors for chronically low m-HRQoL. RESULTS: Compared to norms, mothers of children with CHD had significantly lower m-HRQoL immediately after open-heart surgery (β = -0.30 (CI-95: -0.44, -0.15)). Subsequently, m-HRQoL increased to a normal level (m-HRQoL compared to the norm from 1 to 13 years: β ranges between 0.05 and 0.27). LCGA revealed two distinct groups of m-HRQoL trajectories: A group with normal m-HRQoL (75% of mothers, means z-scores range between - 0.76 and 0.62) and a group with chronically low m-HRQoL (25% of mothers, mean z-scores range between -1.32 and -0.10). Chronically, low m-HRQoL was associated with poorer social support (OR = 3.39 (CI-95: 1.40, 8.49), p = 0.008) but not with parental education, migration background, number of open-heart surgeries, diagnosis of a univentricular CHD, or low IQ. CONCLUSION: A quarter of mothers of children with CHD have chronically low m-HRQoL throughout their child's development, especially those mothers with poor social support. Further studies of family-oriented approaches are needed to identify and support these mothers and reinforce parental well-being.
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Ehrler et al. (2023) conducted a cohort in Mothers of children with surgically repaired congenital heart disease (n=125). Poor social support vs. Good social support was evaluated on Chronically low mental health-related quality of life (m-HRQoL) (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.40-8.49, p=0.008). Poor social support was associated with a significantly increased risk of chronically low mental health-related quality of life over 13 years in mothers of children with surgically repaired congenital heart disease (OR 3.39).
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