Table 1.
Study and patient characteristics
| Study | Group | Study characteristics | Patient characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country; study design; journal | AF type (%); | LVEF | Final sample size; men percentage; age | Pharmacological treatment (n; %) | ||
| Catheter ablation (%) | ||||||
| Controlled studies | ||||||
| Alves et al. [25], 2022 | IG | Brazil; Randomised study; | Permanent (100) | ≤ 40% | 13; 100%; 58.0 ± 3.0 y | Amiodarone (1; 8) |
| (AE; MIE) | Heart rhythm | BB (13; 100) | ||||
| Digoxin (8; 62) | ||||||
| CG | 13; 100%; 58.0 ± 2.0 y | Amiodarone (1;8) | ||||
| BB (13; 100) | ||||||
| Digoxin (11; 85) | ||||||
| Bittman et al. [37], 2022 | IG | Canada; Randomised study; | Paroxysmal (85) | ≥ 50% | 34; 68%; 63.7 ± 8.6 y | Amiodarone (5; 15) |
| (AE; MIE) | CJC Open | Persistent (15) | Other AAD (14; 41) | |||
| CV (13; 38) | ||||||
| Ablation (5; 15) | ||||||
| BB (22; 65) | ||||||
| CG | Paroxysmal (92) | 38; 55%; 61.0 ± 9.7 y | Amiodarone (2; 5) | |||
| Persistent (8) | Other AAD (10; 26) | |||||
| CV (8; 21) | ||||||
| Ablation (5; 13) | ||||||
| BB (16; 42) | ||||||
| Joensen et al. [38], 2019 | IG (AE; | Denmark; Randomised study; | Paroxysmal (57) | ≥ 50% | 28; 61%; 62.2 ± 10.0 y | Amiodarone (3; 11) |
| MIE) | J Rehabil Med | Persistent (43) | Flecainide (3; 11) | |||
| BB (18; 64) | ||||||
| CG | Paroxysmal (38) | 24; 71%; 60.2 ± 8.9 y | Amiodarone (2; 8) | |||
| Persistent (62) | Flecainide (4; 17) | |||||
| BB (16; 67) | ||||||
| Kato et al. [39], 2019 | IG | Japan; Randomised study; | Persistent (100) | ≥ 50% | 28; 71%; 67.0 ± 10.0 y | Amiodarone (1; 4) |
| (CE; MIE) | Eur J Prev Cardiol | BB (9; 32) | ||||
| Catheter ablation (100) | Digoxin (0%) | |||||
| CCB (5; 18%) | ||||||
| Second ablation (2; 7) | ||||||
| CG | 31; 90%; 65.0 ± 8.0 y | Amiodarone (1; 3) | ||||
| BB (8; 26) | ||||||
| Digoxin (1; 3) | ||||||
| CCB (8; 26) | ||||||
| Second ablation (4; 13) | ||||||
| Kim et al. [40], 2023 | IG | Korea; | Paroxysmal (67) | ≥ 50% | 21; 77%; 65.3 ± 4.0 y | |
| (AE; HIIE) | Randomised study; | Persistent (33) | ||||
| 1 year (a) | Intern Med | |||||
| IG | Paroxysmal (43) | 23; 73%; 64.0 ± 6.3 y | Amiodarone (10; 11) | |||
| (AE; HIIE) | Persistent (57) | Sotalol (4; 3.6) | ||||
| 6 months (b) | BB (54; 49) | |||||
| Digoxin (1; 0.9) | ||||||
| CCB (24; 21.8) | ||||||
| CG | Paroxysmal (52) | 30; 61%; 62.4 ± 5.4 y | ||||
| Persistent (48) | ||||||
| Malmo et al. [41], 2016 | IG | Norway; Randomised study; | Paroxysmal (58) | ≥ 50% | 26; 77%; 56.0 ± 8.0 y | AAD (16; 62) |
| (AE; HIIE) | Circulation | Persistent (42) | Amiodarone (7; 27) | |||
| Flecainide (7;2 7) | ||||||
| Sotalol (2; 8) | ||||||
| BB (8; 31) | ||||||
| Digoxin (1; 4) | ||||||
| CCB (4; 15) | ||||||
| CG | Paroxysmal (56) | 25; 88%; 62.0 ± 9.0 y | AAD (15; 60) | |||
| Persistent (44) | Amiodarone (2; 8) | |||||
| Flecainide (9; 36) | ||||||
| Sotalol (4; 16) | ||||||
| BB (7; 28) | ||||||
| Digoxin (0) | ||||||
| CCB (5; 20) | ||||||
| Nourmohammadi et al. [42], 2019 | IG | ≥ 50% | 25; 40%; 52.7 ± 7.4 y | Amiodarone (2; 8) | ||
| (AE; LIE) | Iran; Randomised study; ARYA Atheroscler | Permanent (100) | Flecainide (1; 4) | |||
| Sotalol (0; 0) | ||||||
| BB (9; 36) | ||||||
| Digoxin (5; 20) | ||||||
| CCB (7; 28) | ||||||
| CG | 25; 52%; 59.9 ± 7.5 y | Amiodarone (3; 12) | ||||
| Flecainide (0; 0) | ||||||
| Sotalol (0; 0) | ||||||
| BB (6; 24) | ||||||
| Digoxin (7; 28) | ||||||
| CCB (3; 12) | ||||||
| Osbak et al. [43], 2011 | IG | Denmark; Randomised study; Am Heart J | Permanent (100) | ≥ 50% | 24; 75%; 69.5 ± 7.3 y | BB (0.67 ± 0.48) # |
| (AE; MIE) | Digoxin (0.38 ± 0.50) # | |||||
| CG | 23; 74%; 70.9 ± 8.3 y | BB (0.57 ± 0.51) # | ||||
| Digoxin (0.39 ± 0.50) # | ||||||
| Risom et al. [44], 2016 | IG | Denmark; Randomised study; | Paroxysmal (72) | ≥ 50% | 95; 70%; 60.0 ± 9.0 y | Amiodarone (20; 19) |
| (AE; MIE) | Am Heart J | Persistent (28) | CV (49;47) | |||
| Catheter ablation (100) | Ablation (41;39) | |||||
| BB (55;52) | ||||||
| Digoxin (11; 10) | ||||||
| CCB (22; 21) | ||||||
| CG | Paroxysmal (72) | 100; 73%; 59.0 ± 12.3 y | Amiodarone (12; 11) | |||
| Persistent (28) | CV (54;51) | |||||
| Catheter ablation (100) | Ablation (5; 13) | |||||
| BB (56; 53) | ||||||
| Digoxin (7; 7) | ||||||
| CCB (28; 27) | ||||||
| Multi-intervention studies | ||||||
| Borland et al. [45], 2020 | IG | Sweden; Randomised study; | Permanent (100) | ≥ 50% | 40; 74%; 74.0 ± 4.0 y | Heart rate regulators (37; 80) |
| (CE; MIE) | Transl Sports Med | |||||
| IG | 47; 68%; 74.0 ± 6.0 y | Heart rate regulators (42; 84) | ||||
| (AE; MIE) | ||||||
| Reed et al. [26], 2022 | IG | Canada; Randomised study; JAMA Netw Open | Permanent (61) | ≥ 50% | 32; 67%; 68.0 ± 8.0 y | AAD (1; 2) |
| (AE; HIIE) | Persistent (39) | BB (29; 67) | ||||
| Digoxin (7; 16) | ||||||
| CCB (15; 35) | ||||||
| IG | Permanent (61) | 39; 65%; 71.0 ± 7.0 y | AAD (4; 9) | |||
| (AE; MIE) | Persistent (39) | BB (26; 61) | ||||
| Digoxin (5; 12) | ||||||
| CCB (9; 21) | ||||||
| Skielboe et al. [46], 2017 | IG | Denmark; Randomised study; PloS One | Paroxysmal (43) | ≥ 50% | 37; 59%; 61.4 ± 3.0 y | AAD Ic (11; 30) |
| (AE; MIE) | Persistent (57) | BB (23; 62) | ||||
| Digoxin (4; 11) | ||||||
| CCB (11; 30) | ||||||
| IG | Paroxysmal (55) | 33; 58%; 63.8 ± 3.3 y | AAD Ic (5; 15) | |||
| (AE; LIE) | Persistent (45) | BB (22; 67) | ||||
| Digoxin (2; 6) | ||||||
| CCB (8; 24) | ||||||
AAD, antiarrhythmic drugs; AAD Ic: antiarrhythmic drugs class Ic; AE, aerobic exercise; AF, atrial fibrillation; BB, Beta-blockers; CCB, calcium channel blockers; CG, control group; CE, combined exercise; CV, cardioversion; HIIE; high-intensity interval exercise; IG, intervention group; LIE, low-intensity exercise; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MIE, moderate-intensity exercise
# Values are reported as mean ± standard deviation.