Atrial fibrillation symptom clusters and associated clinical characteristics and outcomes: A cross-sectional secondary data analysis:

Background:Symptom clusters among adults with atrial fibrillation have previously been identified but no study has examined the relationship between symptom clusters and outcomes.Aims:The purpose of this study was to identify atrial fibrillation-specific symptom clusters, characterize individuals with each cluster, and determine whether symptom cluster membership is associated with healthcare utilization.Methods:This was a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of 1501 adults from the Vanderbilt Atrial Fibrillation Registry with verified atrial fibrillation. Self-reported symptoms were measured with the University of Toronto Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale. We used hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward’s method) to identify clusters and dendrograms, pseudo F, and pseudo T-squared to determine the ideal number of clusters. Next, we used regression analysis to examine the association between cluster membership and healthcare utilization.Results:Males predominated (67%) and the average age was 58.4 years. ...