Quality of life in adolescents with congenital heart disease

• Author / Creator

  Shearer, Kathleen

• Technological advances for treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD) have led to decreases in mortality over the past thirty years. Persistent morbidity into adolescence and adulthood necessitates regular medical follow-up and the influence of ongoing physical health issues on the teens emotional health merits clinician and researcher attention. Employing interpretive description research methodology, 22 interviews with teens aged 13-17 years were analyzed to understand how adolescents with CHD describe everyday life and relate to questions about quality of life (QOL). Although the majority of these teens viewed themselves as normal, CHD was a part of their everyday life that they situated into the foreground or background of their lives, as it suited their needs. These teens spoke of QOL issues in a concrete manner focusing on physical activity limitations and their need to fit in. Further discussion of these issues must be undertaken as adolescents with CHD transition to adulthood.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Congenital
  • Heart
  • Diseases
  • Adolescents

• Graduation date

  Spring 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Nursing

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R31M6N

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.