Evaluation of quality of life in patients with congenital heart disease: an observational case control study.

Quality of life (QoL) has become an important issue in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Accordingly, the focus has shifted from mere survival to a better QoL. The objective of this study is to assess QoL, by examining the World Health Organization QoL-bref (WHOQoL-BREF) questionnaire, in patients with CHD and a control population of a same geographic area matched for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and educational level. 154 patients with CHD recruited from a single hospital outpatient clinic and 250 healthy controls were studied between October 2018 and April 2019. Median age in patients with CHD was 27 (20-34) years and 62% were male. 32, 90 and 32 patients with CHD showed mild, moderate, and complex defects, respectively. 131 (53%) controls referred having felt or experienced negative feelings such as bad mood, despair, stress, or depression compared to 53 (34%) patients in the CHD group (P<0.001). Despite needing more medical treatment (P<0.001), patients with CHD enjoyed more their lives (P<0.001), felt their lives made more sense (P<0.001), were happier with themselves (P=0.006) and with their personal relationships (P=0.020), had a greater support from friends (P=0.031) and felt safer in their daily lives (P=0.004) than patients in the control group. Similarly, patient with CHD felt their environment was healthier, had more opportunities for leisure and were happier with their access to healthcare system (P<0.005) than controls. On the contrary, except the need for more medical treatment in patients with great CHD defects (P=0.019), no significant differences were seen in the WHOQoL-BREF survey according to the anatomical complexity. In conclusion, overall patients with CHD scored better in the WHOQoL-BREF questionnaire, especially in the psychological and environment domains, than patients in the control group.