In elderly atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, AF is usually a manifestation of risk factors and comorbidities not only limited to cardiovascular diseases. Especially in elderly often more than two comorbidities are present. The presence of comorbidities also affects outcomes in AF patients. Current healthcare systems are single-disease focused, which increases the risk of underdiagnosing, replicating diagnostic tests and adverse drug-drug interactions, placing a high burden on healthcare costs. Healthcare systems and hospitals are in need of new care pathways to address the complexity of multimorbid AF patients and to reduce costs. The EHRA-PATHS consortium set out to address this need for change in management for multimorbid, elderly AF patients in Europe through the development of new care pathways. The aim of this study is to evaluate the current management of risk factors and comorbidities, and subsequently implement the newly developed care pathways and evaluate if these pathways lead to better management of risk factors and comorbidities in multimorbid, elderly AF patients, compared to current standard care.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
1,300
Newly developed care pathways integrated into a care-management software tool
University Medical Center Groningen
Groningen, Netherlands
RECRUITINGIdentification and management of risk factors and comorbidities
The number of risk factors and comorbidities that are identified and for which treatment is initiated during base mapping and at the end of the randomized controlled trial.
Time frame: 6 months
AF symptom burden
Measured with the Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale (AFSS) questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Quality of life (QoL)
Measured with the EuroQol five-dimensional five-level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Referrals to other disciplines
The referrals to other disciplines will consist of the number of referrals and the percentage of patients referred.
Time frame: 6 months
Patient and health care provider satisfaction
Measured with a patient and health care provider (HCP) satisfaction questionnaire
Time frame: 6 months
Healthcare resource use/costs
Measured with the iMedical Consumption Questionnaire (iMCQ)
Time frame: 6 months
HRQoL/utility
Measured with the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire (iMCQ)
Time frame: 6 months
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