The influence of frailty syndrome on quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Introduction Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with decreased quality of life (QoL) compared to the general population and to other cardiovascular conditions. In addition, the co-occurrence of frailty syndrome (FS) affects the risk of developing adverse health outcomes including disability and rehospitalizations. This may further translate into a decreased subjective sense of QoL. Purpose To evaluate the prevalence of FS and its impact on subjective QoL in a group of patients with AF. Methodology 116 patients (mean age 75.21 ± 8.19) with diagnosis of AF hospitalized at the Cardiology Department were included in the study. Medical record analysis and self-administered questionnaire were used to obtain basic sociodemographic and clinical data. The prevalence of FS was assessed using the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) questionnaire. The standardized Arrhythmia-Specific questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) assessing quality of life was used. Results FS was diagnosed in 67.24% of the patients. The group with FS was predominantly elderly (p < 0.001), female (p = 0.03), less educated (p = 0.04), single (p= <0.001), with coexisting heart failure (p = 0.015 ) and with higher EHRA classification (p = 0.014). Better QoL was demonstrated in the group of patients without FS in the total score (p = 0.004), psychological domain (p = 0.014) and physical domain (p = 0.004). There was a significant positive correlation of TFI total score with overall QoL (B = 0.383; p < 0.001) and psychological (B = 0.355; p < 0.001) and physical (B = 0.336; p < 0.001) domains. Conclusions FS is common in patients with AF. Assessment of FS occurrence is important for everyday clinical practice because FS lowers QoL. The consequence of FS and decreased QoL may be worse patient prognosis and increased number of hospitalizations.