Abstract
BackgroundPatients of congenital heart disease surgery have good prospects for reaching old age. Against the backdrop of increasing life expectancies, the question of how well such patients are mastering daily routines and their working life emerges. In our study, the educational and occupational performance of patients over 15 years was examined.MethodsIntergenerational social mobility (changes in social positions from the parental generation to the generation of children) was examined in terms of education, and intragenerational social mobility (changes in positions within the same generation, i.e., in individuals over their life courses) was examined in terms of occupational positions. Comparisons were made between patients and a control group drawn from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Controls were drawn from respondents who participated in the 2004 and 2018 SOEP surveys.ResultsThe data were from 244 out of 360 patients (68%) with complete social data from the first survey (2003–2004) and who were included in the follow-up (2017–2019), and 238 controls were drawn from the SOEP. At the time of the second survey, subjects’ ages ranged from 28 to 59 years of age (M = 40.1 years). Intergenerational educational mobility did not differ between cases and controls. For intragenerational social mobility, downward changes were more frequent among controls. This latter finding may be explained by patients retiring earlier than the general population. Retirement rates increased over time, particularly among patients with severe congenital malformations. Unemployment rates were also higher among patients.ConclusionsTaken together, although a considerable proportion of patients with congenital heart disease retired prematurely or never entered the labour force, their educational and occupational careers proceeded more favourably than expected.
Highlights
The primary challenge for patients with congenital heart disease has long been to survive, but today, approximately 90% of such patients reach adulthood [1], and this applies to patients with complex malformations [2]
Comparisons were made between patients and a control group drawn from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)
The data were from 244 out of 360 patients (68%) with complete social data from the first survey (2003–2004) and who were included in the follow-up (2017–2019), and 238 controls were drawn from the SOEP
Summary
The primary challenge for patients with congenital heart disease has long been to survive, but today, approximately 90% of such patients reach adulthood [1], and this applies to patients with complex malformations [2]. It can be concluded that the everyday life of patients is impaired by the concomitants of the disease [6,7,8] Against this backdrop of persisting morbidity, it needs to be known how well patients are passing through their school education what in turn is an important prerequisite for integration into the labour market. A study from the Netherlands compared the educational levels of 1,496 CHD patients under 40 years of age with a group of N = 6,810 controls. A recent French study with n = 135 CHD patients concluded that they had achieved lower educational levels than the average member of the French population, but again, the authors did not directly compare patients’ achievements with those of controls [14]. The educational and occupational performance of patients over 15 years was examined
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