The impact of illness perceptions and disease severity on quality of life in congenital heart disease

Abstract

Symptoms of depression and anxiety are common among adults with CHD. Patients' illness perceptions are related to psychological outcomes, especially cross-sectionally. Future research could investigate whether an intervention to discuss patients' perceptions about their CHD can improve mental health and quality of life.

Adherence to hydroxyurea, health-related quality of life domains, and patients’ perceptions of sickle cell disease and hydroxyurea: a cross-sectional study in adolescents and young adults

“…Nevertheless, given the nature of our cross-sectional study, we cannot determine the direction of the relationship, namely whether poor HRQOL leads to worse perceptions or that worse perceptions leads to poor HRQOL domain scores. Consistent with our results, O’Donovan et al have shown that, in a cohort of patients with congenital heart disease, illness perceptions were also predictive of different HRQOL domains and psychological outcomes, including depression and anxiety [51]. …”

A multinational observational investigation of illness perceptions and quality of life among patients with a Fontan circulation

“…The role of underlying anxiety or depressive symptoms in the development of illness perceptions and assessment of QOL must be acknowledged, especially as internalizing symptoms are frequently elevated among patients with complex CHD. 7,10,15 To address this issue, we controlled for anxiety and depressive symptoms in the mediational analyses. Therefore, illness perceptions were less influenced by underlying psychological symptoms and were more likely to reflect independent CHD-related beliefs.…”

“…First, all data were cross-sectional; the ability to determine whether illness perceptions predicted QOL over time was not possible, although current literature suggests that illness perceptions may predict future QOL in adults with CHD. 14,15 Second, the internal consistency of the illness perceptions composite was slightly less than the standard 0.70, although the decision was made to retain the variable due to the relative lack of knowledge regarding illness perceptions in CHD. One possibility is that the greater perceived treatment benefits reported by…”

Trends in Congenital Heart Disease

“…[86][87][88] Psychosocial morbidities in the ACHD population include an increased prevalence of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. [89][90][91] The recent recognition of ACHD medicine as a distinct subspecialty of cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine establishes the importance of appropriate training in the care of this challenging patient population. 92 The future of this field is likely to see further growth in a team-based approach to their management, centers of excellence for their care, and attention to their mental health, employability, and social relationships.…”