Article

Children and adolescents operated upon for congenital heart disease
(ConHD) may show reduced exercise capacity and physical activity, possibly
associated with lowered self-esteem and quality of life (QoL). The studies into
associations between these parameters have not been reviewed before. OBJECTIVE:
Review of studies into associations between exercise capacity, physical activity,
respectively exercise training, and psychosocial functioning of ConHD youngsters.
DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase and reference lists of related articles. STUDY
SELECTION: Articles published between January 2000 and December 2012 into
exercise capacity and/or physical activity, and a measure of psychosocial
functioning in children with ConHD. DATA EXTRACTION: Two investigators
independently reviewed the identified articles for eligibility, and one author
extracted the data. RESULTS: Although exercise capacity was strongly related to
physical domains of parent-reported and self-reported QoL, it was almost never
associated with psychosocial domains of QoL. Physical activity was rarely
associated with physical or psychosocial domains of QoL. Remarkably,
self-reported depressive symptoms were associated with both physical and
psychosocial QoL. The few studies into exercise-training programmes showed
promising results in QoL and emotional and behavioral problems, but they
contained methodological flaws. CONCLUSIONS: No clear relationships were found
between exercise capacity, physical activity, and QoL in children and adolescents
with ConHD. Therefore we recommend assessing QoL separately, preferably both
self-reported and parent-reported. Since depressive symptoms were associated with
reduced physical and psychosocial QoL, screening on these symptoms is also
recommended.
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Langue : ANGLAIS