Impact of congenital heart disease on the family: preliminary report.

" The doctor says she's got a bad heart," said a mother, " but it's us who suffer, not her." How much does the family suffer? Firstly, we wanted to determine whether congenital heart disease has an appreciable impact on the family of the affected child. Secondly, if it has, to assess how the impact is influenced by the cardiac disorder, by the characteristics of the family, and by medical management. The aim was, so far as is possible, to check clinical impressions with hard facts and statistically valid data-" to measure the measurable and make measurable the immeasurable."