Psychosocial assessment and quality of life assessment in children with congenital heart in a developing country

Background Few studies have examined the clinical utility of a brief psychosocial screening questionnaire and assessing the health-related quality of life as part of routine care in a pediatric cardiology clinic. Subject and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted over 6 months duration involving 224 patients with congenital heart diseases (CHD) aged 4–18 years and their parents to fulfill Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) and Health related – Quality Of Life (HR-QOL) score. Statistical analysis of reliability of these scores among the studied population was carried using Cronbach’s alpha value. Results The studied population with CHD, aged 4–18 years with a mean ± standard deviation of 99.48 ± 43.37 months. They were 54.5% males (n = 122) and 45.5% females (n = 102). Internalizing problems were identified by PSC in 12.95% of patients (n = 29), Cyanosis was found to be the only significant independent risk factor for developing internalizing defects (p Conclusions Children with CHD have increased need for psychosocial assessment for improvement of their quality of life.