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Multicenter Study
. 2020 Dec;29(12):3285-3296.
doi: 10.1007/s11136-020-02578-3. Epub 2020 Jul 11.

Impact of comorbid conditions on disease-specific quality of life in older men and women with atrial fibrillation

Hawa O Abu  1 , Jane S Saczynski  2 , John Ware  3   4 , Jordy Mehawej  5 , Tenes Paul  5 , Hamza Awad  6 , Benita A Bamgbade  2 , Isabelle C Pierre-Louis  2 , Mayra Tisminetzky  4   7 , Catarina I Kiefe  4 , Robert J Goldberg  4 , David D McManus  5
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Impact of comorbid conditions on disease-specific quality of life in older men and women with atrial fibrillation

Hawa O Abu et al. Qual Life Res. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Older persons with atrial fibrillation (AF) experience significant impairment in quality of life (QoL), which may be partly attributable to their comorbid diseases. A greater understanding of the impact of comorbidities on QoL could optimize patient-centered care among older persons with AF.

Objective: To assess impairment in disease-specific QoL due to comorbid conditions in older adults with AF.

Methods: Patients aged ≥ 65 years diagnosed with AF were recruited from five medical centers in Massachusetts and Georgia between 2015 and 2018. At 1 year of follow-up, the Quality of Life Disease Impact Scale-for Multiple Chronic Conditions was used to provide standardized assessment of patient self-reported impairment in QoL attributable to 34 comorbid conditions grouped in 10 clusters.

Results: The mean age of study participants (n = 1097) was 75 years and 48% were women. Overall, cardiometabolic, musculoskeletal, and pulmonary conditions were the most prevalent comorbidity clusters. A high proportion of participants (82%) reported that musculoskeletal conditions exerted the greatest impact on their QoL. Men were more likely than women to report that osteoarthritis and stroke severely impacted their QoL. Patients aged < 75 years were more likely to report that obesity, hip/knee joint problems, and fibromyalgia extremely impacted their QoL than older participants.

Conclusions: Among older persons with AF, while cardiometabolic diseases were highly prevalent, musculoskeletal conditions exerted the greatest impact on patients' disease-specific QoL. Understanding the extent of impairment in QoL due to underlying comorbidities provides an opportunity to develop interventions targeted at diseases that may cause significant impairment in QoL.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Comorbidities; Disease-specific quality of life; Older adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: D.D.M has received research grant support from Apple Computer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boeringher-Ingelheim, Pfizer, Samsung, Philips Healthcare, and Biotronik; consultancy fees from Bristol- Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Flexcon, and Boston Biomedical Associates, and has inventor equity in Mobile Sense Technologies, Inc (Farmington, CT). All other authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of comorbid conditions and self-reported impact of each comorbidity on disease-specific quality of life
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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