Summary
Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is where some people experience unusual heart rhythm which sometimes leads to an AF-stroke. AF is common and many factors can increase the risk of developing it. There are several ways which AF can be managed, including treatment to reset the heartbeat to a normal rhythm. Doctors may give patients medicine called anticoagulants, sometimes called blood thinners, to help prevent blood cells clumping together to make blood clots. A major side effect of taking anticoagulant medicine is bleeding which does not stop easily and is thought to be bothersome for someone with AF. There is not enough research into the effect of bleeding on a patient’s health and welfare.
Researchers will engage with AF patients to understand what it is like to live with the condition. Information will be gathered from 50-80 AF patients, who have recently had a bleed while anticoagulated, from GP clinics, hospital wards and AF support groups. Patients will be asked to give contact details and basic health details. As there are no questionnaires available which look at how bleeding events affect health and wellbeing, the study will use other existing, good quality questionnaires concerning general issues patients with AF experience. All patients will be asked to complete three questionnaires at two points in the study; no more than four weeks after the bleed event and then three months later. The questionnaires take 20-30 minutes to complete and can be filled in on a tablet like an iPad, or on paper. Ten patients will be contacted after the 3-month questionnaires are complete and asked more bleeding related questions, during a semi-structured interview.
The study will increase awareness of how patients with AF feel bleeding affects their quality of life and to inform larger-scale research on the impact of bothersome bleeding for AF patients.
ClinicalTrials.gov project webpage
News & Updates
This study is now completed and the results can be found here
Contact Details
Trial Manager / Lead Contact: Prof Hayley Hutchings
Phone: 01792 513412
Email: h.a.hutchings@swansea.ac.uk
IRAS ID: 279646;