Adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) face elevated cardiovascular risk, which may vary by neighborhood conditions. A study published in Pediatric Cardiology evaluated the relationship between the Child Opportunity Index (COI) and cardiometabolic risk factors among adolescents with CHD.

The study included 768 adolescents aged 13–17 years (mean age 15.49 ± 1.46 years; 57% male) with echocardiographic and geolocation data from 2012 to 2019. COI scores were derived from residential data and categorized into Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, and Very High opportunity groups. A total of 37.5% of patients were classified in the Very Low and Low COI categories.

Significant differences were observed across COI groups for obesity (χ² = 18.52; df = 4; p < 0.001), with the highest prevalence in the Low COI group (26.4%). Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) prevalence also differed (χ² = 11.43; df = 4; p = 0.02), with the highest prevalence in the Low COI group (32.3%). Hypertension prevalence did not differ significantly across COI groups.
 

hese findings show differences in obesity and LVH prevalence across neighborhood opportunity levels among adolescents with CHD and support consideration of social determinants of health in risk stratification.