Physical activity is important for the health of children after the Fontan procedure. Parents uncertain about physical activity have children who are more sedentary. To understand parent uncertainty, we examined agreement regarding activity restrictions from parents, cardiologists, and medical charts.
Activity restriction information for 64 children (25 female), 6 to 11 years, with a Fontan circulation was obtained via cardiologist and parent questionnaire. Each child's medical chart was reviewed for relevant physical activity information. kappa Statistics calculated agreement between sources beyond chance.
Cardiologist, parent, and medical chart reports of the child's activity restrictions often disagree. Regardless of the cardiologist reported restrictions, 70% of parents reported that their child's activity was restricted (kappa = 0.04, P = .25). Parents and cardiologists report the same body contact restrictions (kappa = 0.16) but differ for exertion and competition (kappa