Abstract

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of a pediatric cardiology mission to Arequipa, Peru on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods: Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study, selecting an intervention group of 20 Peruvian patients with congenital heart defects that had received treatment through a week-long pediatric cardiology mission conducted by Hearts with Hope and a control group of 29 Peruvian patients that with congenital heart defects that never received treatment through the mission. Both groups completed research-validated Peds QL surveys 11 months after the Hearts with Hope mission to quantitatively measure their HRQOL. The Peds QL scores of the two groups were compared using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results: The intervention group was found to have significantly improved quality of life scores in 8 of 24 scores measured (p<0.05)—with an additional 5 scores showing moderately significant improvements (p≤0.06)—when compared to the control group. Notably, the scores related to patients’ emotional HRQOL, psychosocial HRQOL, and heart problems all proved to be significantly improved, as well as the scores related to parental HRQOL. Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study suggest that the Hearts with Hope mission had a positive impact on its patients' HRQOL that could be quantitatively measured using research-validated survey tools. This study provides a model for other short-term medical missions to quantitatively measure their impact so that in the future, comparative analysis can determine best practices for these mission trips.