Authors (including presenting author) :
So CY (1), Li HC (1), HO KY (1), YUNG TC (2), TSUI PCB (2)
Affiliation :
(1) School of Nursing, the University of Hong Kong, (2) Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Queen Mary Hospital
Introduction :
A review of the literature suggests that pediatric patients with CHD pay a high price because of the need for long-term regular follow-ups and the consumption of medication. Some pediatric patients may even encounter post invasive procedures complications. However, the psychological well-being and quality of life of Hong Kong adolescents with CHD remain underexplored.
Objectives :
This study aimed to examine the psychological well-being and quality of life (QoL) of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).
Methodology :
A cross-sectional study was employed from July 2017 to Aug 2018. Adolescents with CHD who underwent medical follow-up in the outpatient clinic of an acute hospital that provides surgical intervention of CHD in Hong Kong were recruited. Another similar age group of healthy counterparts from a community center were invited to participate. All subjects were asked to respond to the Chinese version of PedsQL, CES-DC, RSES and demographic sheet. Independent two sample t-test was performed to compare the mean scores of the depressive symptoms, self-esteem and QoL between adolescents with CHD and healthy counterparts. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore whether disease severity, types of treatment received, depressive symptoms and level of self-esteem would have association with the QoL of adolescents with CHD while controlling for the possible effect of age, gender, and parents’ educational attainment.
Result & Outcome :
Results showed that adolescents with CHD reported lower QoL (t= -8.24), more depressive symptoms (t= 5.99) and lower self-esteem (t= -8.18) than their healthy counterparts. Regression analyses revealed that disease severity (p<.01), depressive symptoms (p=.04) and self-esteem level (p=.03) were significantly associated with the QoL of adolescents with CHD. This study affirms the inferior position held by adolescents with CHD in terms of their psychological well-being and quality of life, in particular, disease severity, type of treatments received, self-esteem levels, and depressive symptoms may be useful indicators in screening those who are of higher risk of having a compromised quality of life.
The findings of this study may act as clinical care guidelines for adolescents with CHD and serve as a reference in developing nursing intervention to advocate disease adaptation so as to uphold quality of nursing care to adolescents with CHD.
Co-location with:
