Health-related quality of life in patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.
BACKGROUND
Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac rhythm disturbance encountered in clinical practice. Despite its high prevalence and the associated high number of hospital admissions, few studies document the actual impact of atrial fibrillation on the patient.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and to examine the impact of seriousness of illness on HRQOL in patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.


RESULTS
A descriptive correlational and cross-sectional survey study included 81 subjects newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation within 6 months prior to data collection through face-to-face interview by the Atrial Fibrillation Symptom Frequency and severity checklist (SCL) and the short form-36 health survey (SF-36). As the variables for HRQOL, subjects' perception of both physical health and mental health was poorer than that of general US population. The seriousness of illness had a significant inverse relationship with HRQOL, including both physical health and mental health.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study indicated that the HRQOL in patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation was significantly impaired and the subjective seriousness of illness had a pivotal impact on HRQOL in atrial fibrillation.
Kang
Younhee
Y
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, 101 Dong In 2-Ga, Chung-Gu, Daegu 700-422, South Korea. yxk12@hanmail.net
Bahler
Robert
R
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009820:Ohio; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000925:Anticoagulants