Activities in daily living and schoolwork task performance in children with complex congenital heart disease

To examine if children with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) differ significantly from healthy children in performance of activities in daily living (ADL) and schoolwork tasks.

Fourteen children with complex CHD (3-14 years) were matched in pairs by age and gender to healthy children (n = 14). The ADL Taxonomy was used to evaluate ability to perform ADL and the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) to evaluate quality of schoolwork task performance.

The children with complex CHD had significantly lower mean ADL, school motor and school process performance. Eight of the pairs differed significantly in school motor ability, ten in school process performance and nine in ability to perform ADL.

This study indicates that there is a difference in overall performance both in ADL and schoolwork task performance between children with complex CHD and healthy children. These findings may suggest that early interventions should be provided for children with complex CHD, who often do not receive such services, in order to enhance participation in childhood ADL and schoolwork.