title: Quality of life and congenital heart disease in childhood and adolescence.
abstract: Advances in cardiac surgery techniques and early diagnosis have enabled the increased survival of individuals with congenital heart disease. The investigation of the quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease provides complementary information to clinical data that can assist in decision making on the part of health professionals. Although many studies have been conducted to investigate the quality of life of children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, the results prove to be contradictory; while some studies show that congenital heart disease can impact the quality of life, others describe a better perception of quality of life among children and adolescents who suffer from the disease when compared with healthy control subjects. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the assessment of health related quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, in order to systematize the existing knowledge on this topic today. It is observed that research seeks to investigate aspects of personality in cardiac patients, their coping strategies used and perceived social support, aiming at better understanding the association of these variables with the level of quality of life in this population.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Cardiologia, Fundacao Universitaria de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bertoletti
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciencias da Saude de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Giovana Caroline
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciencias da Saude de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sérgio Pedro
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hattge Júnior
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Cardiologia, Fundacao Universitaria de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Lucia Campos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Pellanda
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support