Key result
AF ablation improves 12-month quality of life by ~26 points on the AFEQT score.
Why the study?
The magnitude and consistency of health-related quality of life improvements following atrial fibrillation ablation across different study designs were not well quantified.
Does AF ablation improve AF-related quality of life as measured by the AFEQT questionnaire at 12 months in adult patients with atrial fibrillation?
Meta-Analysis (n=25,507)
Yes
Does AF ablation improve AF-related quality of life as measured by the AFEQT questionnaire at 12 months in adult patients with atrial fibrillation?
Mean Difference: 25.7 (95% CI 21.7–29.6)
p-value: p=0
Atrial fibrillation ablation yields large, clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life across all AFEQT domains at 12 months.
AF ablation substantially improves HRQoL at 12 months; supports symptomatic use but high heterogeneity leaves optimal patient selection open.
Background and aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis quantify the magnitude of change in overall and domain-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) following atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation and evaluate the consistency of these improvements across different study designs. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in four electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, using a standard search strategy. Mean differences in Atrial Fibrillation Effect on Quality-of-Life (AFEQT) questionnaire with 95 % confidence intervals were calculated in R using meta and metafor packages. Results: Our meta-analysis of 14 studies involving 25,507 patients demonstrates that AF ablation yields substantial and clinically meaningful quality‐of‐life gains at 12 months: the pooled overall AFEQT score improved by 25.7 points (21.7–29.6), with domain‐specific increases of 23.6 points in symptoms (19.1–28.0); 28.2 points in daily activities (24.0–32.5), 23.6 points in treatment concern (19.2–28.0), and 24.9 points in treatment satisfaction (18.9–31.0). Conclusions: AF ablation yields large, clinically meaningful HRQoL improvements across all AFEQT domains. Routine integration of AFEQT monitoring into clinical pathways is warranted. Future studies should standardize protocols, extend follow-up beyond one year, and target domains with smaller gains to sustain benefits.
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Yergeshov et al. (2025) conducted a meta-analysis in Atrial fibrillation (n=25,507). Atrial fibrillation ablation vs. Baseline was evaluated on Overall AFEQT score change at 12 months (MD 25.7, 95% CI 21.7-29.6, p=0). Atrial fibrillation ablation yielded a substantial improvement in overall health-related quality of life at 12 months, with the pooled AFEQT score increasing by 25.7 points.
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