Why the study?
As survival rates for children with congenital heart disease have increased, long-term sequelae and health-related quality of life have become increasingly relevant.
Does a history of congenital heart disease requiring cardiac surgery in the first year of life impact health-related quality of life at age 2-4 compared to healthy children?
Does a history of congenital heart disease requiring cardiac surgery in the first year of life impact health-related quality of life at age 2-4 compared to healthy children?
Children aged 2-4 years who underwent cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease in their first year of life have similar overall quality of life to healthy peers, but exhibit deficits in social and school functioning.
INTRODUCTION: Advances in diagnostic methods, surgical techniques and postoperative intensive care have significantly increased the survival rates for children with congenital heart disease. In this context, long term sequelae acquired greater relevance. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a concept that helps to measure the impact of chronic diseases. The purpose of the current study was to describe HRQOL in children with congenital heart disease that undergo cardiac surgery during their first year of life. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted between August 2017 and December 2018 at a University General Hospital. PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales were used. Children with congenital heart disease between 2 and 4 years old who had cardiac surgery during their first year of life and healthy children were included. Scores were compared with T-test or Wilcoxon according to the observed distribution. p value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 31 children with congenital heart disease (26 % with a single ventricle) and 62 healthy children were enrolled. The first surgery was in the neonatal period in 61.3 %. Our study showed no statistical differences (p = 0.10) between HRQOL Total Scale Score of children with congenital heart disease compared to healthy children. However, lower scores were observed with statistically significant differences in social (p = 0.0092) and school (p = 0.0001) scales. CONCLUSIONS: Our cohort of children diagnosed with congenital heart disease has a global quality of life comparable with healthy children except in social and school functioning scales.
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Melina J Saavedra (2020) studied this question.
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