Regular Sport Activity Is Positively Associated With Biopsychosocial Outcomes in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Purpose:  The purpose of this study was to explore whether adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) engaged in regular sport, and to examine whether participating in sport activities on a regular basis was associated with increase exercise capacity as well as better quality of life in adults with CHD.

Methods:  From March 2014 to July 2014, a total of one hundred and thirty adults (82 female, 48 male, 18 -61 years) with various CHD were included in this study, twenty four (18.5%) with simple CHD, seventy four with moderate CHD (56.9%), and thirty two (24.6%) with great complexity CHD. Participants completed two self-report scales and cardiopulmonary exercise test. Self-report scales including the Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease (HBS-CHD) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used to assess whether adults with CHD practiced sport activity regularly and to evaluate their quality of life respectively. Cardiopulmonary exercise test was conducted to evaluate patient’s exercise capacity using the Ultima^TMCPX. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA).

Results:  Most adult patients with CHD (n=87, 66.9%) did not participated in sports activities regularly. Age, education level, complexity of the heart defect and comorbidities were not related to patients whether practiced sport regularly (p>0.05). However, female significantly reported less regular sport activities than male (22.0% vs. 51.1%, p=0.01). Both exercise capacity and quality of life of patients who participated sport regularly were better than patients who did not practiced sport regularly (Peak O2 consumption: 24.56 ml/kg/min vs. 20.69 ml/kg/min, p<0.001; METs: 7.00 vs. 5.93, p<0.001; percentage of the predicted: 68.60 value vs. 60.33, p=0.016; SWLS score: 26.19 vs. 23.59, p=0.035).

Conclusion:  Most adults with CHD did not perform regular physical sport, especially female adults with CHD. The results provided evidence that regular physical sport is positively associated with not only physical function, exercise capacity, but also psychosocial domain, quality of life. The future study should examine the causal relationship between regular sport activity and exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with CHD. However, continued efforts are needed in early intervention to promote patient with CHD to do sport regularly.