Quality of Life in elderly inpatients with atrial fibrillation as compared with controlled subjects.
OBJECTIVE
Since few studies have investigated Health related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in older patients with atrial fibrillation, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare HRQoL in AF elderly inpatients of 65 and more with that of age-matched controlled subjects.


METHODS
HRQoL was assessed with two generic HRQoL instruments: the MOS-SF 36, a largely recognized instrument, and the Duke Health Profile.


METHODS
Nancy University Hospital patients presenting with atrial fibrillation and three controls per patient free of cardiac arrhythmias, matched by age, sex and hospital department to atrial fibrillation patients.


RESULTS
Forty one atrial fibrillation patients and 123 controls were included. Both groups were comparable for associated disorders, other than coronary artery disease and chronic respiratory failure. After adjustment, scores among atrial fibrillation patients were lower than among controls in 8 of 10 Duke and 6 of 8 SF-36 subscales. In terms of Quality of Life, meaningful differences (>or= 5 points) were recorded in the Duke: Mental, Depression, Anxiety, General Score; and in the SF-36: Physical functioning, Role emotional, Social functioning and Vitality. Nevertheless statistically significant differences were only observed for the Duke Mental (p=0.01), Depression (p=0.003) and Anxiety (p=0.03) scores.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study HRQoL measured in elderly inpatients with atrial fibrillation as compared with matched controlled was mainly altered in the "psychological" domains of the Duke Health Profile. From the patient's point of view, atrial fibrillation appears to have more mental than physical consequences. This study pointed out the utility to assess HRQoL in the management and treatment of elderly hospitalised atrial fibrillation patients.
Perret-Guillaume
C
C
Department of Internal Medicine, Unit of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine, CHU Nancy, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. c.perret-guillaume@chu-nancy.fr
Briancon
S
S
Wahl
D
D
Guillemin
F
F
Empereur
F
F
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires