ABSTRACT
AIM: We aimed to evaluate the effects of the severity and symptoms of congenital heart disease and the emotional and behavioral problems of affected children on their quality of life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was performed by interviewing 80 children aged between 6 and 16 years (40 with cyanotic heart disease and 40 with acyanotic disease) and their mothers. A sociodemographic data form, quality of life questionnaire, strength and difficulties questionnaire, and family life and parenting attitudes scale were used in the research. Life quality was the dependent variable of this research. RESULTS: No significant relation was found between age, sex, and education level of the parents and all quality of life subscale scores (p>0.05). In terms of quality of life, total quality of life subscale, emotional well-being and self-esteem subscales were significantly lower in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease (p=0.02, p=0.007, p=0.006, respectively). The total quality of life subscale was significantly lower in children with a medical treatment and surgical history. In terms of clinical symptoms, self-esteem, friendship and school life quality subscales were affected in the presence of dyspnea. As scores from strength and difficulties questionnaire increased, which is used for the assessment of children's psychological symptoms, all quality of life scores were significantly lowered except for school and family subscales. CONCLUSION: It was found that symptoms of congenital heart disease affected the psychosocial quality of life subscales rather than the physical subscales. In addition, it was observed that mental symptoms in both the mother and child negatively affected quality of life rather than disease-related parameters.
ABSTRACT
Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate the anxiety and depression status, family functions, parenting attitudes, and quality of life in the mothers of children with CHD. METHOD: The study enrolled 120 mothers: 40 of children with cyanotic CHD, 40 of children with non-cyanotic CHD, and 40 of healthy controls. Short Form-36 for quality of life, Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale for anxiety and depression, Family Assessment Device for the detection of problems affecting family functions, and Parental Attitude Research Instrument for measuring child-rearing attitudes were used in the study. RESULTS: Statistically significant decreases were found in the general health standards of mothers of non-cyanotic children (p=0.035) and in the emotional and physical role difficulty of mothers of cyanotic children (p=0.006, p=0.010). When anxiety and depression levels of the parents were examined, the anxiety level of the cyanotic group was found to be significantly higher than that of the other groups (p=0.031). When family behaviours were assessed, there was a statistically significant decrease in role status in the families having a child with cyanotic CHD (p=0.035). In the Parental Attitude Research Instrument test, the husband and wife incompatibility sub-scale was found to be statistically significantly lower in the cyanotic CHD group (p=0.030). CONCLUSION: When there is a diseased person in the family, the focus should not be solely on the problems of the patient but also on preventive methods to be implemented in order to protect the mental health of all family members.