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Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) on quality of life (QoL) in Chinese patients in Hong Kong. Design: Cross- sectional survey. Setting: University teaching hospital in Hong Kong. Patients and method: We assessed QoL in 200 consecutive patients (mean age 69±8 years, 113 men) with AF follow up in the out-patient clinic. All patients were interviewed with QoL questionnaires during follow-up in the outpatient clinic. Main outcome measures: QoL scores as assessed by Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Symptom Checklist in AF patients and compared with sex-age matched controls in 1:2 ratio. Results: AF patients reported significantly lower QoL scores than sex- age matched healthy controls across all domains of the SF-36, except for general health. QoL scores of AF patients on measures of physical and social functioning and mental health were 15%, 17% and 11% lower than normal controls (all p<0.001). SF-36 scores in women with AF were significantly lower than men in all eight subscales (all p<0.05). The symptoms frequency score (18±10 vs. 13±9, p < 0.001) and symptoms severity score (12±8 vs. 9±7, p= 0.004) in women were also significantly higher than men. QoL scores in patients with paroxysmal AF were significantly lower than those with persistent AF in 4 out of 8 subscales and in the overall score. Furthermore, the symptoms frequency (16±10 vs. 13±10, p=0.008) and severity scores (12±8 vs. 9±7, p=0.001) were both significantly higher in patients with paroxysmal AF than those patients with persistent AF. Conclusions: AF was associated with significant symptoms and impairment of QoL. Furthermore, the effect of gender and clinical pattern of AF need to be considered when using QoL as outcome measures in clinical trials for treatment of AF.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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