Recruiting

PTSD & Resilience

Sponsor:

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Code:

NCT06952933

Conditions

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital Heart Disease

PTSD

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Other

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study, entitled "Psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and resilience in adults with congenital heart disease in a large population sample", is to evaluate for exposures during a lifetime with congenital heart disease that may be associated with higher likelihood of developing PTSD.

Primary aim:

\- Identify individual patient characteristics (medical, psychosocial, socioeconomic, etc.) that are associated with a diagnosis of PTSD.

Secondary aims:

  • Calculate the prevalence of those meeting PTSD criteria in the ACHD population using the "gold standard" diagnostic clinician interview, while using the same data to validate a PTSD screening self-report survey in the ACHD population.
  • Determine the role of resilience in ACHD patients using a validated screening survey to assess its protective role toward PTSD.

Hypotheses:

  • There are certain exposures (e.g. post-surgical pain, ICU delirium, bullying due to CHD) that are associated with a higher incidence and odds of meeting PTSD criteria.
  • "Gold standard" diagnostic interviews will most accurately estimate the prevalence of PTSD in ACHD which has been overestimated on prior screening-based studies, although the scope of the problem is still great.
  • Patients with a higher resilience score will show an association with a lower risk of PTSD.

Conditions

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital Heart Disease

PTSD

Study ID

NCT06952933

Start date

Sep 1, 2025

Status verified date

Jun, 2025

Completion date

Aug, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Congenital heart disease diagnosis, age >= 18 years
  • Enrolled in CHI registry
  • English proficiency for survey completion
  • Access to an internet connection. Can be via computer or handheld device.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any who opt out
  • Age < 18 years
  • No diagnosis of congenital heart disease
  • Not enrolled in CHI registry/unable to access Internet

Study Design

Enrollment

1000 participants

Anticipated

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

Overall cohort

Adults age >= 18-years with a diagnosis of congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease will be defined by previously published classification including those listed in the American Heart Association/ American College of Cardiology guidelines for the care of adults with congenital heart disease.

Interventions

Other

Surveys will be distributed for data collection. A subset of patients will participate in diagnostic clinician interviews. No interventions will be tested.

Primary outcome measure

  • PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) [ Time Frame: One-time survey. Distribute to patients during months ~1-2. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Recruiting

Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03766

Contacts

More Information

Sponsor

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Last update posted

Mar 25, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2025

Keywords

  • adult congenital heart disease
  • achd
  • congenital heart disease
  • pediatric cardiology
  • ptsd
  • post-traumatic stress disorder
  • resilience

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on 2026-03-25.