Serious games for improving knowledge and self-management in young people with chronic conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of serious games in improving knowledge and/or self-management behaviors in young people with chronic conditions.

Materials And Methods: The authors searched the databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Sciences, and PsychINFO for articles published between January 1990 and January 2014. Reference lists were hand-searched to retrieve additional studies.

Effectiveness of structured patient education on the knowledge level of adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease.

Background: Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) have poor understanding of their heart condition, treatment and prevention of complications. To improve their level of health-related knowledge, a structured education program was implemented in the adult congenital heart disease program. This study aimed (a) to evaluate the level of knowledge of patients who received structured CHD education as compared to patients who did not receive this education; (b) to explore if the provision of structured education is an independent determinant of knowledge; and (c) to evaluate whether patients who received structured education reached the educational target (>80% correct answers).

Health risk behaviors in adolescents and emerging adults with congenital heart disease: psychometric properties of the Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: To optimize long-term outcomes, patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) should adopt health-promoting behaviors. Studies on health behavior in afflicted patients are scarce and comparability of study results is limited. To enlarge the body of evidence, we have developed the Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease (HBS-CHD).