Clinical Interventions in Aging (May 2020)
Quality of Life and Frailty Syndrome in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
Abstract
Agnieszka Sławuta,1 Polański Jacek,1 Grzegorz Mazur,1 Beata Jankowska-Polańska2 1Department of Internal Medicine, Occupational Diseases, Hypertension and Clinical Oncology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland; 2Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, PolandCorrespondence: Beata Jankowska-PolańskaDepartment of Clinical Nursing, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5, Wrocław 51-616, PolandTel +48 71 784 18 24Fax +48 71 345 93 24Email [email protected]: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and frailty syndrome (FS) are a part of the aging process. Both are still of great importance in the assessment of quality of life (QoL). There is definitely a lack of research clarifying the association between FS and QoL in AF patients.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of FS on QoL in AF patients.Materials and Methods: The retrospective and observational study included 158 inpatients with mean age 69.8± 7.1 years, treated for AF in the cardiac department from 1 April 2019 to 31 June 2019. The following instruments were used: the Arrhythmia-Specific Questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) and the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS).Results: The mean level of frailty in the study group was 8.5± 5.0. In 25.9% of patients, the level of frailty was mild, in 10.1% moderate, and in 17.1% severe. Patients were divided into two groups based on their frailty status. In comparative analysis of the QoL, there were significant differences between the groups: the frail group had more intense symptoms of arrhythmia than the non-frail group (14.9± 4.1 vs 11.9± 4.9; p< 0.001). In the analysis of the total score impact of arrhythmia on QoL, the frail group had a significantly higher score than the non-frail group (23.5± 5.2 vs 14.5± 5.5), which confirmed the stronger negative impact of arrhythmia on QoL. In the regression coefficient analysis, the independent predictor of symptom severity and QoL was FS. However, we observed a negative impact of diabetes, which increased the impact of arrhythmia on QoL, and physical activity, which improved QoL and decreased the impact of symptoms on everyday life.Conclusion: Patients in the frail group have worse QoL and higher impact of arrhythmia on QoL in comparison to patients in the non-frail group. Frailty is an independent predictor of higher intensity of symptoms of arrhythmia and worse QoL. Diabetes and physical activity are predictors of QoL for patients with AF.Keywords: atrial fibrillation, frailty, older age
