Mental Health Issues and Illnesses in Congenital Heart Disease Patients

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatrics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 1416

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Interests: congenital heart disease; pulmonary arterial hypertension; complexity; cyanosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Congenital heart disease is a large, rapidly emerging global problem in child health. Nowadays, it is estimated that 85% of infants born with congenital heart disease will survive to adulthood, mainly thanks to advances in infant medicine and surgery made in recent decades. In these patients, mental illnesses, which involve changes in emotion, thinking, or behavior, mental disorders, psychosocial disabilities, and mental states associated with social, work, or family problems, are common and may be related to factors such as overprotection, traumatic experiences, multiple hospital admissions, device implantation, or genetic predisposition. In fact, existing data show that depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorders occur more often in people with congenital heart disease than in healthy counterparts. Accordingly, parental distress has been reported more frequently in those parents with children with more severe congenital heart disease conditions. It is therefore important to conduct studies to determine the prevalence and risk factors of suffering from mental illnesses in patients with congenital heart disease and their families.

Dr. Efrén Martínez-Quintana
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • congenital heart disease
  • mental illness
  • psychological problems
  • education

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 317 KiB  
Article
Group Psychological Therapy Program in Adult Patients with Congenital Heart Disease and Anxious–Depressive Symptoms
by Efrén Martínez-Quintana, Karen Codana-Alcántara, Hector M. Montesdeoca-Naranjo, Marta Isabel García-Suárez, María Pino Fleitas-Álvarez, María Alcántara-Castellano, Alejandro Ruiz-Castellano, Ana González-Isasi, Fayna Rodríguez-González and Esperanza Bosch-Casañas
Medicina 2025, 61(1), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina61010090 - 7 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1020
Abstract
Introduction: Anxiety and depression are significant mental health concerns for individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD). As group therapy has proven to be a valuable and effective treatment option for managing anxiety and depression, the aim of this study was to determine [...] Read more.
Introduction: Anxiety and depression are significant mental health concerns for individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD). As group therapy has proven to be a valuable and effective treatment option for managing anxiety and depression, the aim of this study was to determine its effects on patients with CHD and anxious–depressive symptoms. Methods: We used non-pharmacological psychological group intervention, of six weekly sessions of 90 min each, administered by trained personnel, in adult patients with CHD. Measurement tools included quality of life (Euro quality of life-5D questionnaire), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), anxiety (State–Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and satisfaction surveys. Results: A total of 18 out of 21 CHD patients (mean age 35.8 ± 9.0 years old and 13 (72%) females) completed the program. According to CHD complexity, five (28%) patients had mild, six (33%) moderate, and seven (38%) great defects. Patients with CHD scored significantly higher in the Euro quality of life visual analogue scale (7.83 ± 1.4 vs. 7.14 ± 1.6, p = 0.012) and lower in the Beck Depression Inventory-II (12.3 ± 10.9 vs. 18.1 ± 12.1, p = 0.003) post-program than pre-intervention. Meanwhile, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale score was close to reaching statistical significance (27.4 ± 6.0 vs. 25.1 ± 5.4, p = 0.051), while the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory did not. Finally, participants scored high in the satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the sessions, on a scale from 0 to 3, especially in the questions related to feeling comfortable with others (2.5 ± 0.6), recommending the program (2.3 ± 0.6), or being willing to attend future sessions (2.6 ± 0.8). Conclusions: Group psychological therapy proved to be a useful tool to reduce depressive symptomatology after a 6-week program, providing a comfortable environment to patients with CHD. Full article
Back to TopTop