Table 1 Characteristics of studies on the effect of an intervention aimed to increase physical activity in children with congenital heart disease.
Study | Subjects | Exercise intervention | Outcome | Results | Qualitya | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n; age (mean ± SD), % girls | Cardiac diagnosis (n); additional inclusion criteria (if applicable) | ||||||||
Intervention | Control | Measure | Method of measurement | Timing of measurement | |||||
56; 15 ± 3 years, 24% | 37; 16 ± 3 years, 30% | ToF (47), Fontan (44) | 12-week standardized aerobic exercise training programme | Physical activity; active leisure time | 5-day accelerometry; self-report questionnaire | Directly after intervention | Exercise training did not change time spent in PA or self-reported active leisure time in either ToF or Fontan patients | High | |
Fredriksen et al.61 | 55; 12.4 ± 1.5 years, 45% | 38, age n/a, 50% | LVOTO (20), TGA (17), ASD/VSD (16), ToF (16), RVOTO (9), Fontan (6), other (9); physical fitness equal or poorer than peers | 2-week training programme in a rehabilitation sport centre or a 5-month training programme near their own home twice a week | Exercise time | 1–2-week activity tracker | 1–2 weeks after intervention | Exercise time increased similarly between groups from 677 ± 151 to 708 ± 152 s/day in parallel with increase in peak oxygen uptake and ventilation | Low |
Hedlund et al.62 | 30; 14.2 ± 3.2 years, 46.6% | 25; 13.6 ± 3.5 years, 48.0% | Fontan | 12-week, twice a week, 45 min, individualized endurance training programme near home | Exercise time | Self-report questionnaire | Directly after intervention, 1 year | In the intervention group, self-reported exercise time increased from 113.5 ± 66.1 at baseline to 168.3 ± 92.7 min/week. At 1-year follow-up, amount of exercise returned to baseline | Moderate |
Klausen et al.63 | 81, 14.6 ± 1.3 years, 41.8% (of full cohort) | 77, 14.6 ± 1.2 years, 41.8% (of full cohort) | CoA (52), TGA (35), ToF (21), AVSD (9) DORV (7), Fontan (6), TA (4), other (24) | 52-week eHealth intervention delivering individually tailored text messages to encourage PA | Time in MVPA | 6 day accelerometry, self-report questionnaire | Directly after intervention | Patients in the intervention group spent 40.3 ± 21.8 min/day in MVPA compared to 41.3 ± 22.9 min/day for controls (not significantly different). Assessments of PA by questionnaire yielded similar results | High |
Longmuir et al.64 | 61; 9.1 years [IQR 7.7–10.5], 41% | — | Fontan | 12-month, weekly parent-lead, home-based intervention to enhance PA, motor skill, fitness, and activity attitudes | MVPA | 7-day accelerometry | At the start of intervention, 6 months, 12 months (end of intervention), 24 months | MVPA increased significantly by 6 months, decreased at 12 months and then increased again to 36 ± 31 min/week (p = 0.04) above baseline at 24 months | Moderate |
Moons et al.65 | 25; 12 years (IQR 10.5–13], 28% | — | Fontan (6), ToF (4), TGA (3), other (12) | 3-day multisports camp for children with CHD | Habitual PA | Self-report questionnaire | 3 months after intervention | No differences observed in habitual PA scores | Low |
Morrison et al.66 | 72; 15.3 ± 2.2 years, 33.3% | 71; 15.9 ± 2.2 years, 46.5% | Acyanotic corrected CHD (61), minor CHD (39), cyanotic corrected (30), cyanotic palliated (13) | 6-month, monthly motivational interview-style group sessions | MVPA, % meeting national UK PA recommendations (>60 min/day MVPA) | 7-day accelerometry | Directly after intervention | Significant increase in MVPA from 28.4 ± 20.1 to 57.2 ± 32.2 min/day (p < 0.001) for the intervention group while MVPA remained the same in controls. Number of patients meeting the PA recommendation doubled from 14 to 29 | High |
Rhodes et al.47 | 15; 11.9 ± 2.2 years, 26.7% | 18; 12.1 ± 2.5 years, 22.2% | Complex CHD; peak work rate and/or peak VO2 < 80% of predicted | 12-week, twice a week, 1 h exercise sessions | Exercise frequency | Self-report questionnaire | 1 year after intervention | Patients in the intervention group reported they exercised more frequently than the year before; the control subjects did not (p = 0.07 for between-group difference) | Low |
