Physical activity assessments in children with congenital heart disease: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Cardiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Congenital heart disease (CHD) affects children's cardiovascular health and may impact their physical activity levels.
• Understanding physical activity (PA) in this population is crucial for optimizing health outcomes and development.
• Existing research presents varied findings on PA in children with CHD, necessitating a comprehensive review.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and describe the physical activity (PA) patterns in children with congenital heart disease (CHD).
• To compare the assessed PA levels against World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.
• To explore how different PA assessment methods influence reported outcomes in this population.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of five databases was performed, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, observational studies, and clinical trials.
• Studies involving pediatric populations with CHD were included.
• Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was the primary outcome for direct measurement studies, while scores in each dimension were considered for indirect measurements.

Main Results:

• Out of 1103 identified articles, 16 primary studies involving 1649 subjects were included in the analysis.
• Eight studies used indirect PA measurement methods, six used direct methods, and two employed both.
• Approximately 46% of children with CHD did not meet WHO recommendations for MVPA, irrespective of CHD severity.

Conclusions:

• Physical activity assessment in children with CHD can be approached through various methods.
• Objective measurements indicate that nearly half of children with CHD achieve less MVPA than WHO recommends.
• This highlights a significant proportion of the pediatric CHD population not meeting recommended PA levels.