Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38944418›Full record

Observational studyHeart (British Cardiac Society)2024

Healthcare utilisation and quality of life according to atrial fibrillation burden, episode frequency and duration.

Maria Hee Jung Park Frausing, Martijn Van De Lande, Dominik Linz, Harry J G M Crijns, Robert G Tieleman, Martin E W Hemels, Mirko De Melis, Ulrich Schotten, Mads Brix Kronborg, Jens C Nielsen and 2 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readObservational StudyMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Heart (British Cardiac Society), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02726698 (Reappraisal of Atrial Fibrillation), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02726698 completednot on this map

Reappraisal of Atrial Fibrillation: Interaction Between HyperCoagulability, Electrical Remodeling, and Vascular Destabilisation in the Progression of Atrial Fibrillation - An Observational Exploratory Study on Pathophysiological Mechanisms of AF Progression and on the Role of LinQ/CareLink Guided Patient Tailored Therapy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity Medical Center GroningenRan2016 to 2024Enrolled750ConditionsAtrial Fibrillation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Minimized atrial pacing and atrial fibrillation burden in the DANPACE II trial.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Observational
  3. Hospital healthcare utilisation in patients with atrial fibrillation: the role of multimorbidity and age.Netherlands heart journal : monthly journal of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology and the Netherlands Heart Foundation · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Maria Hee Jung Park FrausingDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark mariseje@rm.dk.ORCID 0000-0003-2026-1032
Martijn Van De LandeDepartment of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6003-5999
Dominik LinzCardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht Universitair Medisch Centrum+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Harry J G M CrijnsCardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht Universitair Medisch Centrum+, Maastricht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-1073-5337
Robert G TielemanDepartment of Cardiology, Martini Hospital Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Martin E W HemelsDepartment of Cardiology, Rijnstate Ziekenhuis Arnhem, Arnhem, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2373-9858
Mirko De MelisCardiovascular Diagnostics, Medtronic Bakken Research Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Ulrich SchottenDepartment of Physiology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Mads Brix KronborgDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Jens C NielsenDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Isabelle Van GelderDepartment of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7579-1201
Michiel RienstraDepartment of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2581-070X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe aimed to evaluate the association between atrial fibrillation (AF) burden, duration and number of episodes with healthcare utilisation and quality of life in patients with early paroxysmal AF without a history of AF.

methodsIn this observational cohort study, we included 417 patients with paroxysmal AF from the Reappraisal of Atrial Fibrillation: interaction between hyperCoagulability, Electrical remodelling and Vascular destabilisation in the progression of AF (RACE V) Study. Patients were monitored with an insertable cardiac monitor for 1 year. Outcomes collected were healthcare utilisation, and quality of life assessed using the Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale and EuroQol EQ-5D-5L questionnaires.

resultsDuring 1 year of follow-up, 63 973 AF episodes were detected in 353 (85%) patients. The median AF burden was 0.7% (IQR 0.1-4.0%). AF ablation was performed more frequently in patients with intermediate-to-high AF burdens (>0.2%) (16.2% vs 5.9%, p=0.01) and longer AF episode duration (>1 hour) (15.8% vs 2.0%, p=0.01), whereas cardioversions were more frequent in patients with longer episode duration (>1 hour) (9.5% vs 0%, p=0.04) and intermediate (0.2-1.9%) (but not high) AF burdens (13.6% vs 4.2%, p=0.01). Patients with many episodes (>147) reported higher symptom severity (p=0.001). No differences in symptom severity nor in EQ-5D-5L scores according to AF burden or duration were observed.

conclusionIn patients with early paroxysmal AF, higher AF burden and longer episode duration were associated with increased rates of healthcare utilisation but not with symptoms and quality of life. Patients with a higher number of episodes experienced more severe symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02726698.

Indexed as

Atrial FibrillationQuality of LifeAgedCatheter AblationElectric CountershockFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPatient Acceptance of Health CareSeverity of Illness IndexSurveys and QuestionnairesTime Factorsatrial fibrillation

Identifiers

PMID38944418
PMCPMC11287643

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.