Differences between patients with and without significant QOL gains
| Characteristics and outcomes | AFEQT improvement | P value | |
| ≥5 points (n=246) | <5 points (n=55) | ||
| Overall AFEQT score | |||
| Baseline score | 57.7±18.4 | 78.0±19.8 | <0.001 |
| High score (>80) at baseline | 28 (11.4) | 29 (52.7) | <0.001 |
| 12-month score | 90.2±11.9 | 73.6±20.9 | <0.001 |
| Change in score—baseline to 12 months | 32.5±17.0 | −4.4±8.9 | <0.001 |
| Characteristics | |||
| Age, years | 61.0±10.1 | 62.9±9.4 | 0.194 |
| Male | 156 (63.4) | 33 (60.0) | 0.636 |
| Body mass index | 27.4±4.2 | 28.2±4.5 | 0.226 |
| Left ventricular ejection fraction, % | 61.5±6.7 | 61.2±7.3 | 0.768 |
| Left atrial diameter, mm | 39.0±5.3 | 39.2±5.1 | 0.845 |
| CHA2DS2-VASc score | 1.5±1.4 | 1.9±1.4 | 0.027 |
| Patient medical history | |||
| Atrial fibrillation duration, months | 23.5 (6.0, 60.0) | 20.0 (8.0, 72.0) | 0.652 |
| Atrial flutter | 48 (19.5) | 11 (20.0) | 0.934 |
| Hypertension | 96 (39.0) | 32 (58.2) | 0.009 |
| Type II diabetes | 15 (6.1) | 6 (10.9) | 0.205 |
| Coronary disease | 21 (8.5) | 8 (14.5) | 0.172 |
| Thromboembolic events | 14 (5.7) | 5 (9.1) | 0.349 |
| Congestive heart failure (NYHA class I/II) | 6 (2.4) | 3 (5.5) | 0.235 |
| Utilisation within 12 months pre-ablation | |||
| All-cause hospitalisation | 58 (23.6) | 15 (27.3) | 0.563 |
| Cardiovascular hospitalisation | 55 (22.4) | 15 (27.3) | 0.435 |
| Cardioversion | 30 (12.2) | 17 (30.9) | <0.001 |
| Previously failed anti-arrhythmic drug(s) | |||
| Number of failed anti-arrhythmic drugs | 1.6±0.8 | 1.7±0.7 | 0.666 |
| Failed any class I/III anti-arrhythmic drug | 173 (70.3) | 45 (81.8) | 0.085 |
| Outcomes within 12 months post-ablation | |||
| Recurrence after 90-day blanking | 47 (19.1) | 17 (30.9) | 0.053 |
| Atrial tachyarrhythmia burden | 2.0%±6.7% | 6.5%±16.5% | 0.051 |
| Burden of ≥10% | 16 (6.5) | 7 (12.7) | 0.116 |
| Burden of ≥20% | 7 (2.8) | 6 (10.9) | 0.008 |
| Repeat ablation | 20 (8.1) | 10 (18.2) | 0.024 |
| All-cause hospitalisation | 46 (18.7) | 14 (25.5) | 0.257 |
| Cardiovascular hospitalisation | 30 (12.2) | 11 (20.0) | 0.127 |
| Cardioversion | 14 (5.7) | 5 (9.1) | 0.349 |
Numbers in the table are represented as mean±SD, n (%) or median (IQR).
P values based on t-test for means, Kruskal-Wallis test for medians and χ2 test for counts.
.AFEQT, Atrial Fibrillation Effect onQualiTy of Life Survey; NYHA, New York Heart Association; QOL, quality of life.