Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common type of congenital anomalies and represent approximately 33% of the major congenital anomalies. In recent years, despite the development of prenatal ultrasound technology, mortality in cardiac anomaly has reached 10% and this rate covers 50% of the deaths related to malformation (1,2). 
The birth of a baby is one of the most powerful human experiences and creates a great hope and expectation in families. The effects of the disease of the child on the parents vary by disease being a threat to his/her life, having a significant impact on the daily life of families, arousing a feeling of uncertainty for the future and being diagnosed after birth. Hopelessness that families experience adversely affects the treatment compliance of the individuals, their efforts, motivation and coping mechanisms . In this study, hopelessness levels of the parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and influencing factors were determined.
The universe consists of parents applied to Ege University Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and whose children had CHD surgery. The sample includes parents applied to the hospital between August and December 2015, agreed to participate and with children aged 0-6 had surgery. Sample size was 100 parents (50 males, 50 females) according to priori power analysis. Patient identification form for sociodemographic characteristics and The Beck Hopelessness Scale were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, the Kruskal–Wallis test, the Mann-Whitney U and the Independent Samples t test were used.
It was determined that gender and age of the parents and children and diagnosis during or did not affect hopelessness level (p>0.05) unlike educational background (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION
Hopelessness level of the parents who have children with congenital heart disease was found low. It was found that the gender and age of parents and their children with CHD and diagnosis during pregnancy have no impact on hopelessness level while educational background of the families is affecting it.  According to the results of the study, it may be recommended to provide an adequate support and assistance to mothers who experience higher level of hopelessness compared to fathers, educate undereducated parents about the nature of disease, raise awareness and provide professional support for improving coping mechanisms of the parents.

Hopelessness levels of the parents who have children with congenital heart diseases