Publications by authors named "Alberto E Garcia-Torres"
Objectives: Globally congenital heart disease mortality is declining, yet the proportion of infant deaths attributable to heart disease rises in Colombia and other middle-sociodemographic countries. We aimed to assess the accessibility of paediatric cardiac surgery (PCS) to children <18 years of age in 2016 in the South American country of Colombia.
Methods: In Bogotá, Colombia, a multi-national team used cross-sectional and retrospective cohort study designs to adapt and evaluate 4 health system indicators at the national level: first, the population with timely geographic access to an institution providing PCS; second, the number of paediatric cardiac surgeons; third, this specialized procedure volume and its national distribution; and fourth, the 30-day perioperative mortality rate after PCS in Colombia.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the quality of life (QoL) in children with infrequent congenital heart defects (I-CHD) and how it changes over one year, comparing self-reports from children and reports from their caregivers.
- Data was collected from a cohort of children diagnosed with I-CHD in Colombia, utilizing a clinical psychology assessment and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) to measure QoL at baseline and after one year.
- Results showed that children reported higher QoL scores than their caregivers at both time points, with notable differences in cardiac module scores at baseline but no significant changes in general module scores over one year.