title: Echocardiographic indices of diastolic function relate to functional capacity and quality of life in ambulatory men with atrial fibrillation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to explore the reliability of echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function and determine their relationship with functional capacity (New York Heart Association [NYHA] class and 6-minute walk test [6MWT]) and the domains of a health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) questionnaire (Veterans RAND 36-Item Health Survey) in a cohort of ambulatory patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight male veterans with persistent or permanent AF underwent clinical examination, echocardiography, and 6MWT, and filled out a Veterans RAND 36-Item Health Survey questionnaire at two visits 1 week apart. Pairwise correlation was performed to evaluate the reliability of echocardiographic parameters and multiple regression analyses to assess the association of these parameters with functional capacity and HR-QOL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  E/e' average had the highest correlation between the two visits (coefficient: 0.87) and had a significant relationship with NYHA, 6MWT, and physical functioning domain of HR-QOL even after adjusting for confounding variables (odds of NYHA >1: OR 1.5, 95% CI, 1.2-1.9; 6MWT coefficient: -31 ± 9 ft; physical functioning score coefficient: -1.7 ± 0.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Average E/e' is a reliable diastolic function parameter that also independently relates with functional capacity and HR-QOL in ambulatory patients with atrial fibrillation.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Research Laboratory, Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island 02908, USA.
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Punjani
authors.forename: Wen-Chih
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Satish C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Choudhary
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003971:Diastole; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005080:Exercise Test; D006296:Health Services; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014728:Veterans; D016138:Walking