Quality of Life in Patients Post Radiofrequency Ablation

Overview

Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure done in the Catheterization Laboratory to help correct specific problems that cause the heart to beat faster than it should. Quality of life includes the physical as well as the emotional aspects of a patient. Doctors have always tried to take care of a medical problem with minimal physical and emotional risk. It is assumed that once the medical problem is fixed, the patient will have an improved quality of life. To know if this assumption is true, the investigators are asking children scheduled for this procedure, along with their family, to answer questions before the ablation, then answer the same questions 5-6 months after the ablation.

When a patient (age 5-18 years) is scheduled for an ablation at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the research coordinator contacts the family prior to the procedure and describes the study to them, details the goals, benefits versus risks, and answers any questions they may have. Written consent is obtained from the parents. Assent is obtained from the child. Both the parent and child are given the age appropriate Peds QL (tm) Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, version 4.0. The forms are returned to the research coordinator. If the child is ablated, then 5-6 months after the ablation, the same questionnaire is sent to the child and parent. Data are entered into a database.

Conditions