Cross-sectional study of congenital heart disease among Tibetan children aged from 4 to 18

Cross-sectional study of congenital heart disease among Tibetan children aged from 4 to 18 years at

different altitudes in Qinghai Province

佚名

【期刊名称】《中华医学杂志（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2008(121)024

【摘要】Background Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common heart condition which does considerable harm to the health of children and adolescents. CHD epidemiological characteristics of Tibetan children whose ages ranged from 4 to 18 years were investigated in Qinghai Province. Methods A total of 32 578 Tibetan children, living at altitudes of 2535 m, 3600 m and 4200 m, were examined using a three-stage protocol: prescreening, rechecking and diagnosis using a color Doppler. The distribution of CHD at different altitudes was analyzed together with differences in occurrence according to age and gender. Results A total of 235 CHD cases were discovered. The total prevalence of CHD was 7.21%o. Prevalence of CHD has been shown to increase along with increase in altitude with 5.45%0 at an altitude of 2535 m, 6.80%0 at 3600 m and 9.79%. At 4200 m. There were no statistically significant differences between the prevalence at 2535 m and 3600 m 0(2=1.594, P ＞0.05). However, there was a significant difference between the prevalence at 2535 m and 4200 m (X2=7.002, P＜0.01). Also, apparent