Table 4.
Arrhythmia-Specific Symptoms Characteristic Between Frail and Non-Frail AF Patients
| ASTA Part II – Arrhythmia-Specific Symptoms | Frail N=84 | Non-Frail N=74 | Test Result (p) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | ||
| ASTA II. 1. How many times have you experienced arrhythmia during the last 3 months? | <0.001 | ||||
| None | 10 | 11.9 | 14 | 18.9 | |
| Fewer than 5 | 3 | 3.6 | 37 | 50.0 | |
| Between 5 and 15 | 12 | 14.3 | 9 | 12.2 | |
| Between 16 and 30 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1.4 | |
| More than 30 (but not every day) | 1 | 1.2 | 1 | 1.4 | |
| I experience arrhythmia on and off every day | 28 | 33.3 | 3 | 4.1 | |
| I have persistent arrhythmia | 30 | 35.7 | 9 | 12.2 | |
| ASTA II. 2. How long does your arrhythmia usually last? | <0.001 | ||||
| Less than 1 hour | 9 | 10.7 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Between 1 and 7 hours | 11 | 13.1 | 25 | 33.8 | |
| Between 7 and 24 hours | 22 | 26.2 | 21 | 28.4 | |
| Between 24 and 48 hours | 13 | 15.5 | 18 | 24.3 | |
| Between 2 and 7 days | 1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| More than 7 days | 28 | 33.3 | 10 | 13.5 | |
| ASTA II. 3. What is the longest time your arrhythmia has ever lasted? | <0.001 | ||||
| Between 24 and 48 hours | 16 | 19.0 | 39 | 52.7 | |
| Between 2 and 7 days | 31 | 36.9 | 25 | 33.8 | |
| More than 7 days | 37 | 44.0 | 10 | 13.5 | |
| ASTA II. 4. Do you experience any of the following in connection with your arrhythmia? | |||||
| My heart beats fast | 32 | 38.1 | 50 | 67.6 | <0.001 |
| My heart beats regularly | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.000 |
| My heart beats irregularly | 44 | 52.4 | 52 | 70.3 | 0.033 |
| My heart beats harder than usually | 14 | 16.7 | 19 | 25.7 | 0.232 |
| A feeling that my heart is missing one or more beats | 23 | 27.4 | 30 | 40.5 | 0.114 |
| Short episodes of arrhythmia lasting less than 1 minute | 6 | 7.1 | 1 | 1.4 | 0.122 |
| No, I do not experience any of the above | 26 | 31.0 | 10 | 13.5 | 0.016 |
| ASTA II. 5. Does your arrhythmia occur on specific occasions? | 0.563 | ||||
| No | 47 | 56.0 | 38 | 51.4 | |
| Yes | 37 | 44.0 | 36 | 48.6 | |
| ASTA II. 7. Have you ever come close to fainting due to your arrhythmia? | 0.071 | ||||
| No | 29 | 34.5 | 37 | 50.0 | |
| Yes | 55 | 65.5 | 37 | 50.0 | |
| ASTA II. 8. Have you ever fainted due to your arrhythmia? | <0.001 | ||||
| No | 43 | 51.2 | 64 | 86.5 | |
| Yes | 41 | 48.8 | 10 | 13.5 | |
| Symptom severity (total ASTA II score) | <0.001 | ||||
| M±SD | 14.9±4.1 | 11.9±4.9 | |||
| Me [Q1; Q3] | 14 [12; 18] | 11 [9; 14] | |||
Notes: ASTA data from Walfridsson U, Arestedt K, Stromberg A. Development and validation of a new Arrhythmia-Specific questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) with focus on symptom burden. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2012;10:44. Copyright © 2012 Walfridsson et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative Commons Attribution License available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode.50
Abbreviations: M, mean; SD, standard deviation; Me, median; Q1, quartile 1; Q3, quartile 3; N, total number of patients; n, number of patients.