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Assessing Functional Outcomes in Hospitalized Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Stefanie Casey Rogers1, Ariane Osterwald2, Erin Walecka3

  • 1School of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Sciences, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX 76204, USA; Children's Health Rehabilitation and Therapy Services, Children's Health, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America
|June 28, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric heart transplant (PHT) recipients experience functional challenges impacting daily life. Rehabilitation programs using performance-based measures can improve PHT recipients' quality of life and independence.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric cardiology
  • Rehabilitation medicine
  • Transplant surgery

Background:

  • Hospitalized pediatric heart transplant (PHT) recipients face significant functional challenges affecting motor skills, daily activities, feeding, and communication.
  • Factors like perioperative complications, prolonged hospital stays, deconditioning, and congenital heart disease comorbidities profoundly impact functional abilities and independence.
  • Addressing these challenges is crucial for PHT recipients' long-term well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the role of rehabilitation providers in addressing functional challenges in pediatric heart transplant recipients.
  • To highlight the importance of performance-based outcome measures in assessing functional status.
  • To support the development of tailored rehabilitation programs for improved outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on rehabilitation for pediatric heart transplant recipients.
  • Discussion of performance-based outcome measures relevant to functional assessment.
  • Analysis of factors impacting functional recovery in this population.

Main Results:

  • Rehabilitation providers play a vital role in mitigating functional deficits in PHT recipients.
  • Performance-based outcome measures are essential for tracking progress and tailoring interventions.
  • Multidisciplinary approaches are key to addressing the complex needs of PHT recipients.

Conclusions:

  • Tailored rehabilitation programs are crucial for enhancing the quality of life and independence of pediatric heart transplant recipients.
  • Early and ongoing rehabilitation interventions can significantly improve functional outcomes.
  • Further research into standardized performance-based measures is warranted to optimize care.

Keywords:
ChildrenFunctional outcomesHeart transplantRehabilitation

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