Using Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms to Guide Treatment: Becoming PROs at Improving Quality of Life

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe purpose of this review article is to discuss AF symptomatic management in the context of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), the best tools available to measure patient symptom burden and quality of life. We will also discuss how PROs have been used to assess symptoms in patients with AF and identify several areas for further research to guide AF therapies.Recent FindingsPROs are validated measures of patients ’ symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) derived directly from patient responses, and have been used in clinical trials to demonstrate improvements following interventions for AF. We also show that AF-related PROs can be more than a clinical trial research tool — they can be used in routine clinical practice to measure HRQoL and help inform clinical decision-making.SummaryAF PROs can be used to measure patient symptom burden in clinical trials and routine clinical environments. Further research and improved implementation strategies are needed to understand better how to use PROs and achieve value-based, PRO-guided clinical care.
Source: Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research