Abstract
Purpose
Although atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from heart failure, stroke and other thromboembolic complications, there are limited data on its health-related quality of life (HRQoL) effects. The objective was to analyse the factors determining utility in patients with all types of AF, both at baseline and after 1 year from inclusion, based on data from the Euro heart survey.
Methods
HRQoL was measured with the EQ-5D questionnaire. At baseline, 5,050 patients had completed all five dimensions of the EQ-5D and 3,045 had done so after 1 year. We used Powell’s censored least absolute deviations estimator for inference and ordinary least squares regressions for prediction.
Results
Regardless of time point, utility and change in utility were significantly correlated with age, gender, AF type and symptoms. At baseline, utility was also determined by domestic status, regular exercise habits, diabetic disease and comorbidities. At follow-up, additional determinants included underlying heart disease and utility at baseline, and adverse events.
Conclusion
Utility in patients with AF and change over time are influenced by demographic and disease-specific variables. Our results can provide useful information on the effect of AF on QoL and input for economic evaluations.
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Abbreviations
- AF:
-
Atrial fibrillation
- AP:
-
Angina pectoris
- CHF:
-
Congestive heart failure
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- CLAD:
-
Censored least absolute deviations
- HRQoL:
-
Health-related quality of life
- MI:
-
Myocardial infarction
- OLS:
-
Ordinary least squares
- QALY:
-
Quality-adjusted life year
- RAAS blocker:
-
Renin–angiotensin–aldosteron system blocker
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- SF-36:
-
Short-Form 36
- VAS:
-
Visual analogue scale
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by an unrestricted grant from Sanofi-Aventis, Paris, France.
Conflicts of interest
JB and PL have acted as consultants to and received research grants from Sanofi-Aventis. OB is a full-time employee of Sanofi-Aventis.
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Berg, J., Lindgren, P., Nieuwlaat, R. et al. Factors determining utility measured with the EQ-5D in patients with atrial fibrillation. Qual Life Res 19, 381–390 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9591-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9591-y