Factores que afectan la calidad de vida en pacientes pediátricos con y sin cirugía cardiaca

Abstract

Introduction and objectives

As the survival of children with congenital heart disease who have undergone cardiac surgery has increased significantly, the need for follow-up in terms of health related quality of life has become increasingly important. In this study, we sought to describe the health related quality of life in children with congenital heart disease with and without surgical repair.

Methods

We applied the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM) questionary in 271 patients aged 2 to 17 years, of the patients who attended the cardiology clinic both pre surgery and postsurgery. Health related quality of life was expressed as a total score (highest 100) and provided as medians and percentages from 10 to 100.

Results

We included 271 patients from 2 to 17 years old, 94.8% had a biventricular heart. Cardiac surgery was performed in 67.8% The main factor that negatively affected quality of life were univentricular physiology, the presence of residual shunt, requiring another surgery, management with polidrugs, and surgical access through median sternotomy.

Conclusion

Patients with congenital heart disease nor only suffer from their main disease, but also experience a quality of life that can be affected by social, educational and emotional factors. The assessment of quality of life by health professionals should be an integral part of the evaluation of these patients.