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Review
. 2022 Mar 24:13:100119.
doi: 10.1016/j.ahjo.2022.100119. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Optimal exercise training for children with congenital heart disease: A systematic review

Ryo Yoshihara  1 , Yuji Kanejima  2   3   4 , Masahiro Kitamura  2   3   5 , Kodai Ishihara  2   3   6 , Kazuhiro P Izawa  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Optimal exercise training for children with congenital heart disease: A systematic review

Ryo Yoshihara et al. Am Heart J Plus. .

Abstract

Background: Although more children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are reaching adulthood, they generally have some impairment compared to their healthy peers. Few studies have investigated the effect of exercise training on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and/or physical activity in children with CHD.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to systematically review the effect of exercise training on HRQOL and/or physical activity and the types of training used in general.

Methods: We searched relevant articles published from 2000 to 2021 in English and included intervention studies for children with CHD younger than 20 years who underwent exercise training. Afterwards, we excluded the studies not using HRQOL or physical activity as outcome measures, classified the extracted information according to outcome measures and types of interventions, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies.

Results: Finally, 10 articles were selected, and HRQOL in 3 articles and physical activity in 3 articles showed improvement after exercise training. However, 4 articles did not show improvement in these outcome measures, and 9 of the articles had a high risk of bias in blinding. Sport-based or play-based interventions were used in 5 articles, and prescribed or structured ones were used in 5 articles.

Conclusion: Although exercise training for children with CHD may improve their HRQOL and/or physical activity, more studies are needed to assess the effect statistically. In children with CHD, sport-based or play-based interventions could be used as well as prescribed or structured interventions.

Keywords: Congenital heart disease; Exercise therapy; Health-related quality of life; Physical activity; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

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Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Search terms used in the current study.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Flow diagram of this study. CHD, congenital heart disease; HRQOL, health-related quality of life.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The risk of bias of each study and domain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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