Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0291575.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291575. eCollection 2023.

Quality of life among patients with atrial fibrillation: A theoretically-guided cross-sectional study

Kathy L Rush  1 , Cherisse L Seaton  1 , Lindsay Burton  1 , Peter Loewen  2 , Brian P O'Connor  3 , Lana Moroz  4 , Kendra Corman  1 , Mindy A Smith  5 , Jason G Andrade  4   6
Affiliations

Quality of life among patients with atrial fibrillation: A theoretically-guided cross-sectional study

Kathy L Rush et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) compared to the general population and patients with other heart diseases. The research emphasis on the influence of AF symptoms on HRQoL overshadows the role of individual characteristics. To address this gap, this study's purpose was to test an incremental predictive model for AF-related HRQoL following an adapted HRQoL conceptual model that incorporates both symptoms and individual characteristics.

Methods: Patients attending an AF specialty clinic were invited to complete an online survey. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether individual characteristics (overall mental health, perceived stress, sex, age, AF knowledge, household and recreational physical activity) incremented prediction of HRQoL and AF treatment satisfaction beyond AF symptom recency and overall health.

Results: Of 196 participants (mean age 65.3 years), 63% were male and 90% were Caucasian. Most reported 'excellent' or 'good' overall and mental health, had high overall AF knowledge scores, had low perceived stress scores, and had high household and recreation physical activity. The mean overall AF Effect On Quality-Of-Life Questionnaire (AFEQT) and AF treatment satisfaction scores were 70.62 and 73.84, respectively. Recency of AF symptoms and overall health accounted for 29.6% of the variance in overall HRQoL and 20.2% of the variance in AF treatment satisfaction. Individual characteristics explained an additional 13.6% of the variance in overall HRQoL and 7.6% of the variance in AF treatment satisfaction. Perceived stress and household physical activity were the largest contributors to overall HRQoL, whereas age and AF knowledge made significant contributions to AF treatment satisfaction.

Conclusions: Along with AF symptoms and overall health, individual characteristics are important predictors of HRQoL and AF treatment satisfaction in AF patients. In particular, perceived stress and household physical activity could further be targeted as potential areas to improve HRQoL.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: JGA reports grants from Medtronic and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada during the conduct of this study; personal fees from Medtronic and Biosense Webster Inc, outside the submitted study. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The other authors have no conflicts to declare.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Theoretical model for prediction of Quality-of-Life measures based on patient characteristics.
Note: model adapted from Ferrans et al. [8] model based on Wilson and Clearly [7].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rienstra M, Lubitz SA, Mahida S, et al. Symptoms and functional status of patients with atrial fibrillation: State of the art and future research opportunities. Circulation 2012; 125: 2933–2943. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.069450 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Holmes DN, Piccini JP, Allen LA, et al. Defining clinically important difference in the atrial fibrillation effect on quality-of-life score: Results from the outcomes registry for better informed treatment of atrial fibrillation. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2019; 12: 1–8. - PubMed
    1. Dorian P, Jung W, Newman D, et al. The impairment of health-related quality of life in patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation: Implications for the assessment of investigational therapy. J Am Coll Cardiol 2000; 36: 1303–1309. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(00)00886-x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reynolds Matthew R., Lavelle T, Essebag V, et al. Influence of age, gender, and AF Recurrence on Quality of Life Outcomes in a Population of New-Onset AF Patients: the FRACTAL Registry. Am Heart J 2006; 152: 1097–1103. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thrall G, Lane D, Carroll D, et al. Quality of Life in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review. American Journal of Medicine; 119. Epub ahead of print 2006. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.10.057 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Grants and funding