Observational studyBMJ open2025
Long-term effects of radiofrequency ablation on symptom severity, depression, anxiety and quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation: a longitudinal observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- A bidirectional relationship between atrial fibrillation and depression: epidemiology, mechanisms, and clinical implications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, significantly affecting patients' quality of life (QoL) and increasing the risk of complications such as heart failure, stroke and dementia. In addition to the physical burden, psychological distress, including depression and anxiety, is prevalent among patients with AF and can exacerbate clinical symptoms and worsen overall well-being. While radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is widely used for rhythm control in AF, its long-term effects on both physical and psychological outcomes, including symptom severity, anxiety, depression and QoL, remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate the long-term impact of RFA on both physical and psychological health in patients with AF, using network analysis to explore symptom interrelationships and their collective influence on QoL. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This longitudinal observational study will investigate the evolution of symptom severity, depression, anxiety and QoL in patients with AF undergoing RFA. Data will be collected at four time points: preprocedure (T0), 3 months (T1), 6 months (T2) and 12 months (T3) postprocedure. The study will employ network analysis to examine the dynamic interactions between physical and psychological symptoms, focusing on core symptoms and their impact on patient outcomes. To assess symptom severity, depression, anxiety and QoL, the following standardised tools will be used: the Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 and WHO Quality of Life-Brief Version, respectively. Statistical analyses will include network analysis with R software to explore the interrelationships between symptoms, as well as repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to assess changes over time and interactions among variables. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU, No 20250128) and will be conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and its amendments. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific conferences and shared through various popular science forums and patient organisations.
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