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The Role of Psychology in a Pediatric Outpatient Cardiology Setting: Preliminary Results from a New Clinical Program

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of a new clinical program integrating psychology services within a pediatric outpatient cardiology clinic. Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) (n = 79) were referred for psychological services by their pediatric cardiologist. Parents completed the child behavior checklist, and the pediatric quality of life inventory generic core scales (PedsQL parent report). Teachers completed the teacher report form. Reasons for referral included: emotional problems (29 %); attention problems (25 %); learning problems (22 %); behavior problems (16 %); and developmental delay (8 %). Parents and teachers reported higher rates of behavior problems and lower quality of life scores than the general population. Psychological evaluation suggested that incorporating a psychologist within a pediatric cardiology clinic may be beneficial for children with CHD in order to optimize their psychosocial functioning. Practice implications for implementing psychology services within a pediatric outpatient cardiology program are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Pediatrics Department of the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Herma Heart Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The authors would like to acknowledge Angie Klemm for her assistance with database management.

Conflict of Interest

Authors Brosig, Yang, Hoffmann, Dasgupta and Mussatto declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Correspondence to Cheryl Brosig.

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Brosig, C., Yang, K., Hoffmann, R.G. et al. The Role of Psychology in a Pediatric Outpatient Cardiology Setting: Preliminary Results from a New Clinical Program. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 21, 337–346 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-014-9404-5

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