Aging hearts: Older adults with congenital disease report better mental health
A new study challenges assumptions about quality of life in older cardiac patients, finding that adults over 60 with congenital heart disease report higher life satisfaction and lower anxiety than younger counterparts—despite greater physical limitations. The findings suggest healthcare systems and insurers may need to recalibrate expectations about aging with chronic heart conditions.
Originaltitel: Patient-reported outcomes in the aging population of adults with congenital heart disease: results from APPROACH-IS
<p>The congenital heart disease (CHD) population now comprises an increasing number of older persons in their 6th decade of life and beyond. We cross-sectionally evaluated patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in persons with CHD aged 60 years or older, and contrasted these with PROs of younger patients aged 40-59 years and 18-39 years. Adjusted for demographic and medical characteristics, patients ≥60 years had a lower Physical Component Summary, higher Mental Component Summary, and lower anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety) scores than patients in the two younger categories. For satisfaction with life, older persons had a higher score than patients aged 40-59 years. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02150603.</p>