A new study finds that individual characteristics are important predictors of health-related quality-of-life in atrial fibrillation patients.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects 3% of the global population. Patients with AF have a significantly lower health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) than the general population and patients with other cardiac diseases. Studies linking AF symptoms to HRQoL of these patients often overlook the role of individual characteristics.
A study in PLoS ONE assessed the impact of individual characteristics on HRQoL and treatment satisfaction in AF patients while controlling for AF symptoms and overall health.
Study Population
Of the 196 study participants, 63% were male and 90% were Caucasian. The mean age was 65.3 years. The individual characteristics assessed included age, sex, overall mental health, perceived stress, AF knowledge, and household and recreational physical activity.
Most participants had ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ overall and mental health, high overall AF knowledge scores, low perceived stress scores, and high physical activity levels. The mean overall AF Effect on Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (AFEQT) score and AF treatment satisfaction score were 70.62 and 73.84, respectively.
Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms, Overall Health, and Quality of Life
The length of time since participants last experienced AF symptoms was positively related to all three HRQoL subscales and overall HRQoL. Moreover, overall health was positively related to the daily activities HRQoL subscale and overall HRQoL. These two variables contributed to 29.6% of the variance in overall HRQoL. The length of time since AF symptoms and overall health were positively related to AF treatment satisfaction. These variables comprised 20.2% of the variance in AF treatment satisfaction.
Stress and Physical Activity Significantly Impact Quality of Life in Atrial Fibrillation
Perceived stress was negatively related to HRQoL on all three subscales and overall HRQoL. Household physical activity was positively related to all three HRQoL subscales and overall HRQoL, whereas recreational physical activity was negatively related to HRQoL for symptoms. Overall mental health was positively related to the HRQoL treatment subscale. Age was negatively related to the daily activities HRQoL subscale.
Individual characteristics collectively increased the total variance in overall HRQoL to 43.2%, accounting for an additional 13.6% of the variance over and above the recency of AF symptoms. Perceived stress and household physical activity contributed the most to overall HRQoL.
Age and Atrial Fibrillation Knowledge Significantly Impact Treatment Satisfaction
Age was positively related, whereas AF knowledge was negatively related to AF treatment satisfaction. Overall mental health and perceived stress did not contribute to the incremental prediction of AF treatment satisfaction.
Individual characteristics collectively increased the total variance in AF treatment satisfaction to 27.8%, accounting for an additional 7.6% of the variance over and above the recency of AF symptoms and overall health. Age and AF knowledge significantly contributed to AF treatment satisfaction.
Source:
Rush, K. L., Seaton, C. L., Burton, L., Loewen, P., O’Connor, B. P., Moroz, L., Corman, K., Smith, M. A., & Andrade, J. G. (2023). Quality of life among patients with atrial fibrillation: A theoretically-guided cross-sectional study. PLOS ONE, 18(10), e0291575. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291575
