The impact of brady-pacemaker implantation on children’s and adolescents’ quality of life

Abstract

Background: The quality of life (QoL) of children and adolescents with pacemaker implantation continues to be compromised even though treatment and technology are constantly improving. This study asks whether pacemaker implantation affects the QoL in paediatric patients. Methods: This systematic review included seven English language studies with paediatric patients (≤18 years of age) with pacemaker implantation where their QoL was compared with healthy children. Studies that measured QoL of parents of children with pacemaker implantation, including mixed ages of >18 years, patients with a heart transplant, had additional interventions, had implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), and other types of non-brady cardiac devices were excluded. A critical appraisal tool CAT-CSS was used to evaluate the quality and validity of the chosen studies. Results: Evidence shows that although children and adolescents with a pacemaker implant seem to adapt well to the situation, they still have lower levels of QoL when compared to healthy children. Measuring QoL can be challenging due to many factors, namely perception, new lifestyle adaptation and all forms of support and thus, more evidence is needed to affirm how much the quality of life of this population is improving compared to their pre pacemaker implantation life. Conclusions: QoL of children and adolescents can be improved if psychological reviews are an integral part of their usual pacemaker-clinic follow-up to manage any early recognised issues and provide supportive interventions. Similarly, patients and their families may benefit from physical activity levels education, which can reduce stress and improve their QoL.