ArticleBMC pediatrics2025
The quality of life of children with heart disease in Tanzania: a single center study.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe demand for surgical intervention for congenital heart disease (CHD) exceeds the available resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This has resulted in a growing population of children with CHD, with only few receiving surgery and many more waiting. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its impact on the pediatric CHD population in these settings have been largely overlooked, and limited research has been conducted. Therefore, this study aimed to explore HRQoL in the pediatric CHD population in Tanzania by comparing unoperated and operated patients, thus bridging the knowledge gap.
methodsThis cross-sectional study included patients with CHD, 2 to 18 years old, without severe comorbidities, at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, either unoperated or operated, at least six months after cardiac surgery. Clinical and sociodemographic variables (scored 0 to 1, resp. poorest to highest) were collected. The Pediatric HRQoL Generic Core Scale (PedsQL™ 4.0 SF15, Swahili Version) provided HRQoL scores by parental report and self-report (5 years and above) for different domains (physical, social, emotional, and school). Questions were scored on a Likert linear analogue scale; higher scores indicated better HRQoL. The between-group scores were compared with Student's t test and the Mann‒Whitney U test. Generalized linear models were used to identify predictors of HRQoL.
resultsMean age of the study group was 6.3 ± 3.7 years, with a slight female predominance (n = 110, 53.9%). Operated patients had a higher socioeconomic status score (0.71/1 vs. 0.66/1) and more frequent early diagnosis (< 1 year; 67.8% vs. 47.1%). The complexity of cardiac diagnosis (simple, moderate or complex) was significantly different between groups (p = 0.001). Parent-reported HRQoL scores were significantly higher for the post-operative group (90.8 ± 10.2 vs. 80.5 ± 16.7, p < 0.001), with the most noticeable difference in the physical domain (effect size d=-0.813, p < 0.001). Being post palliative or curative surgery and higher socioeconomic status were found to be significant predictors of better HRQoL. HRQoL significantly decreased with increasing severity of heart failure symptoms.
conclusionsThe HRQoL of operated Tanzanian children with CHD differed significantly from that of their unoperated counterparts. Reducing symptoms for those on the waiting list can improve their HQoL. In this setting, HQoL in children with CHD is strongly predicted and influenced by socioeconomic status, emphasizing the need for interventions to address socioeconomic disparities and improve patient outcomes. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.