Technologies

Market Summary

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and accounts for a third of hospital admissions for cardiac rhythm disturbances. Patients with atrial fibrillation have impaired quality of life and can be improved with various treatment strategies. Current scales to determine and track quality of life of patients with atrial fibrillation assess only the frequency and severity of atrial fibrillation episodes. There are, however, no quality of life scales specifically designed for atrial fibrillation that assess the impact of atrial fibrillation and its treatments on physical, emotional, psychological, and social functioning.

Technical Summary

Emory researchers have created a quality of life scale and questionnaire that enables healthcare providers to assess the quality of life of patients with irregular heart rhythm atrial fibrillation. The Emory Living with Atrial Fibrillation Quality of Life (ELWAF) Scale is composed of two parts. The first part assesses the effect of atrial fibrillation on patient functioning (physical, emotional, psychological, and social) and the second part assesses the effect of various treatments for atrial fibrillation on daily life. The scale is designed to be sensitive to changes in the patient’s perception of atrial fibrillation between treatments and could be used by healthcare providers and during clinical trials.