An international survey of physician and patient understanding, perception, and attitudes to atrial fibrillation and its contribution to cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality
Open accessAbstract
AIMS: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is not always perceived as a serious health threat, but is the most common sustained arrhythmia, with a major impact on morbidity, mortality, and patient quality of life (QoL). A survey was undertaken to examine the level of understanding, perception, and attitudes of the cardiovascular risks associated with AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: The AF AWARE group (an international coalition of organizations with an interest in AF) conducted an international quantitative survey in 11 countries in 2009, to investigate patients' (n = 825) and cardiologists' (n = 810) perceptions of AF, preferences for communicating information on AF and burden of AF. Both patients and physicians considered AF life-threatening (55 and 43%, respectively). Physicians were more concerned about the risk of stroke and hospitalizations than patients, whereas patients were most concerned about death risk. One in four patients felt unable to explain AF and >33% were worried or fearful about their disease. Many physicians (51%) wanted more patient information with >60% viewing available information as poor/difficult to find. Hospital specialists and GPs were identified as key information sources for patients. Most patients (83%) reported symptoms, yet 75% claimed to be satisfied with AF therapies. Atrial fibrillation patients, often with associated diseases, made an average of nine visits per year to their doctors, who consider AF difficult and time consuming to manage. Patients and physicians rated the QoL impact of AF as moderate to high. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive international patient and professional information and support programme on AF is needed to improve management and consequently health outcomes.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Understanding patients' perceptions and attitudes towards AF and its management can improve AF management and related outcomes.
“Understanding patients' perceptions and attitudes towards AF and its management can improve AF management and related outcomes.1017”
From 2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS (2016) · cites this paper as [1017]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Atrial fibrillation as an independent risk factor for stroke: the Framingham study
Wolf, P. A., Abbott, R. D., & Kannel, W. B. (1991) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/01.str.22.8.983 · Cited by 7,388 · see citing works
Go, A. S., Hylek, E. M., Phillips, K. A., Chang, Y., Henault, L. E., Selby, J. V., & Singer, D. E. (2001) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.285.18.2370 · Cited by 6,205 · see citing works
Impact of Atrial Fibrillation on the Risk of Death: The Framingham Heart Study
Benjamin, E. J., Wolf, P. A., D’Agostino, R. B., Silbershatz, H., Kannel, W. B., & Levy, D. (1998) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.98.10.946 · Cited by 4,575 · see citing works
Fuster, V., Rydén, L. E., Cannom, D. S., Crijns, H. J., Curtis, A. B., Ellenbogen, K. A., Halperin, J. L., Le Heuzey, J.-Y., Kay, G. N., Lowe, J. E., et al. (2006) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.106.177292 · Cited by 2,805 · see citing works
Self-citationLifetime Risk for Development of Atrial Fibrillation: The Framingham Heart Study
Lloyd-Jones, D. M., Wang, T. J., Leip, E. P., Larson, M. G., Levy, D., Vasan, R. S., D’Agostino, R. B., Massaro, J. M., Beiser, A., Wolf, P. A., et al. (2004) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000140263.20897.42 · Cited by 2,041 · see citing works
Wang, T. J., Larson, M. G., Levy, D., Vasan, R. S., Leip, E. P., Wolf, P. A., D’Agostino, R. B., Murabito, J. M., Kannel, W. B., & Benjamin, E. J. (2003) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000072767.89944.6e · Cited by 1,970 · cited 1× · see citing works
“There is also a close relationship between AF and heart failure, which is associated with poor prognosis, in which AF aggravates heart failure, which in turn promotes AF.(2)”
BackgroundProbability of stroke: a risk profile from the Framingham Study.
Wolf, P. A., D'Agostino, R. B., Belanger, A. J., & Kannel, W. B. (1991) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/01.str.22.3.312 · Cited by 1,782 · cited 2× · see citing works
“AF were closely aligned with the clinical facts and data regarding AF risks.(1,11,12) In this survey, over 50% of patients only had their AF recognized during routine check-ups or while consulting for another condition.”
BackgroundMethodStewart, S., Hart, C. L., Hole, D. J., & McMurray, J. J. V. (2002) · The American Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0002-9343(02)01236-6 · Cited by 1,562 · see citing works
Stroke Severity in Atrial Fibrillation
Lin, H., Wolf, P. A., Kelly‐Hayes, M., Beiser, A., Kase, C. S., Benjamin, E. J., & D’Agostino, R. B. (1996) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/01.str.27.10.1760 · Cited by 1,412 · see citing works
Wang, T. J., Massaro, J. M., Levy, D. A., Vasan, R. S., Wolf, P. A., D’Agostino, R. B., Larson, M. G., Kannel, W. B., & Benjamin, E. J. (2003) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.290.8.1049 · Cited by 779 · see citing works
Quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review
Thrall, G., Lane, D., Carroll, D., & Lip, G. Y. H. (2006) · The American Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.10.057 · Cited by 697 · see citing works
Self-citationDorian, P., Jung, W., Newman, D., Paquette, M., Wood, K., Ayers, G. M., Camm, J., Akhtar, M., & Luderitz, B. (2000) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/s0735-1097(00)00886-x · Cited by 627 · see citing works
Self-citationWattigney, W. A., Mensah, G. A., & Croft, J. B. (2003) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000083722.42033.0a · Cited by 505 · see citing works
Depression, Anxiety, and Quality of Life in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Thrall, G., Lip, G. Y. H., Carroll, D., & Lane, D. A. (2007) · CHEST Journal · doi:10.1378/chest.07-0036 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Self-citationPizzetti, F., Turazza, F. M., Franzosi, M. G., Barlera, S., Ledda, A., Maggioni, A. P., Santoro, L., & Tognoni, G. (2001) · Heart · doi:10.1136/heart.86.5.527 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Atrial Fibrillation Is Associated with Severe Acute Ischemic Stroke
Dulli, D. A., Stanko, H., & Levine, R. L. (2003) · Neuroepidemiology · doi:10.1159/000068743 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
Singh, S. N., Tang, X. C., Singh, B. N., Dorian, P., Reda, D. J., Harris, C. L., Fletcher, R. D., Sharma, S. C., Atwood, J. E., Jacobson, A. K., et al. (2006) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2006.03.051 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Ringborg, A., Nieuwlaat, R., Lindgren, P., Jönsson, B., Fidan, D., Maggioni, A. P., Lopez-Sendon, J. L., Stepinska, J., Cokkinos, D. V., & Crijns, H. J. G. M. (2008) · EP Europace · doi:10.1093/europace/eun048 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Murphy, N., Simpson, C., Jhund, P., Stewart, S., Kirkpatrick, M., Chalmers, J., Macintyre, K., & McMurray, J. (2007) · Heart · doi:10.1136/hrt.2006.107573 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Lane, D. A., Ponsford, J., Shelley, A., Sirpal, A., & Lip, G. Y. H. (2005) · International Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2005.07.031 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Self-citationLip, G. Y. H., Kamath, S., Jafri, M., Mohammed, A., & Bareford, D. (2002) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/hs0102.101817 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Self-citationProgressive Nature of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation-Observations From a 14-Year Follow-up Study-
Kato, T., Yamashita, T., Sagara, K., Iinuma, H., & Fu, L.-T. (2004) · Circulation Journal · doi:10.1253/circj.68.568 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Bassan, M. M., Weiler‐Ravell, D., & Shalev, O. (1983) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.68.3.568 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Pedersen, O. D., Abildstrom, S. Z., Ottesen, M. M., Rask‐Madsen, C., Bagger, H., Køber, L., & Torp-Pedersen, C. T. (2005) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi629 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Lane, D. A., Langman, C. M., Lip, G. Y. H., & Nouwen, A. (2009) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.10.007 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Self-citationUpdate on atrial fibrillation: Part II
Savelieva, I., & Camm, A. J. (2008) · Clinical Cardiology · doi:10.1002/clc.20136 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Deplanque, D., Leys, D., Parnetti, L., Schmidt, R., Ferro, J. M., Reuck, J. D., Mas, J., Gallai, V., & the SAFE ll Investigators (2004) · British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2004.02086.x · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Update on Atrial Fibrillation: Part I
Savelieva, I., & Camm, A. J. (2008) · Clinical Cardiology · doi:10.1002/clc.20138 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Peterson, G. M., Boom, K., Jackson, S., & Vial, J. H. (2002) · Internal Medicine Journal · doi:10.1046/j.1445-5994.2002.00156.x · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Perception of Risk and Knowledge of Risk Factors in Women at High Risk for Stroke
Dearborn, J. L., & McCullough, L. D. (2009) · Stroke · doi:10.1161/strokeaha.108.543272 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Bramlage, P., Thoenes, M., Kirch, W., & Lenfant, C. J. M. (2007) · Current Medical Research and Opinion · doi:10.1185/030079907x182077 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Safety considerations in the pharmacological management of atrial fibrillation
Camm, A. J. (2008) · International Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2007.11.006 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Oral anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation: A pan-European patient survey
Lip, G. Y. H., Agnelli, G., Thach, A. A., Knight, E., Rost, D., & Tangelder, M. J. D. (2007) · European Journal of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ejim.2006.11.005 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationQuality of life in older people with atrial fibrillation
Lane, D. A., & Lip, G. Y. H. (2008) · Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology · doi:10.1007/s10840-008-9318-y · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationGillis, A. M., Burland, L., Arnburg, B., Kmet, C., Pollak, P. T., Kavanagh, K. M., Veenhuyzen, G. D., & Wyse, D. G. (2008) · Canadian Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/s0828-282x(08)70583-x · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS
Kirchhof, P., Benussi, S., Kotecha, D., Ahlsson, A., Atar, D., Casadei, B., Castella, M., Diener, H.-C., Heidbuchel, H., Hendriks, J., et al. (2016) · European Heart Journal · doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw210 · Cited by 6,418 · see citing works
Self-citation2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS
Kirchhof, P., Benussi, S., Kotecha, D., Ahlsson, A., Atar, D., Casadei, B., Castella, M., Diener, H.-C., Heidbuchel, H., Hendriks, J., et al. (2016) · European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery · doi:10.1093/ejcts/ezw313 · Cited by 1,403 · see citing works
Self-citationLowres, N., Neubeck, L., Salkeld, G., Krass, I., McLachlan, A. J., Redfern, J., Bennett, A. A., Briffa, T., Bauman, A., Martinez, C., et al. (2014) · Thrombosis and Haemostasis · doi:10.1160/th14-03-0231 · Cited by 458 · see citing works
Lane, D. A., Aguinaga, L., Blomström-Lundqvist, C., Boriani, G., Dan, G.-A., Hills, M. T., Hylek, E. M., LaHaye, S. A., Lip, G. Y. H., Lobban, T., et al. (2015) · Europace · doi:10.1093/europace/euv233 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
- Authors
- Aliot, E., Breithardt, G., Brugada, J., Camm, J., Lip, G. Y. H., Vardas, P. E., Wagner, M., & for the Atrial Fibrillation AWareness And Risk Education (AF AWARE) group [comprising the Atrial Fibrillation Association (AFA), T. E. H. R. A. (.
- Affiliations
- Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire de Nancy (FR)
- University Hospital Münster (DE)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Birmingham City Hospital (GB)
- University Hospital of Heraklion (GR)
- Corresponding author
- Aliot, E.
- Venue
- Europace
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2010-04-26
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 626-633
- ISSN
- 1099-5129 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-2092
- PMC
- PMC2859877
- OpenAlex
- W1970394818
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 5.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- EP Europace (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Sanofi
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Atrial Fibrillation Management and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
- Keywords
- atrial fibrillation, patient perspectives, physician attitudes, cardiovascular risk perception, stroke risk, quality of life, patient information needs, physician-patient communication, disease burden, health information sources, patient support services
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Atrial Fibrillation, Canada, Cardiovascular Diseases, Communication, Europe, Health Surveys, Humans, International Cooperation, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Middle Aged, Morbidity, Physician-Patient Relations, Quality of Life, Risk Factors, United States, Survival Rate, Cost of Illness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
