Patient understanding of atrial fibrillation and stroke risk
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patient understanding of atrial fibrillation and stroke risk
IRAS ID
209536
Contact name
Mark Backhouse
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common condition that causes an irregular heartbeat and increases the risk of stroke by 5-fold. Anticoagulation (or blood thinning) medication is used to reduce this risk and clinicians are encouraged to support shared decision making, whereby they explore the patient’s ideas and actively involve them in decisions about treatment. Patient understanding of AF is poor and there is discrepancy between the stroke risk calculated by the clinician (using approved tools) and the risk as perceived by the patient. This lack of patient understanding of atrial fibrillation and variation in risk will impact on the process of shared decision making. In this study we set out to understand how patients’ understanding of atrial fibrillation, its treatment and associated risks impact on their treatment choices.
Qualitative methods are appropriate for conducting an in-depth exploration of these issues. A semi-structured patient interview will explore how interactions with healthcare professionals, personal and family experiences and exposure to educational materials influence patient understanding of atrial fibrillation and perception of stroke risk. Interviewing patients on different anticoagulation medication (including those not on treatment) will help establish a range of views and factors that influence attitudes towards anticoagulation medication.
The development of new treatment options and complexity of AF poses a significant challenge for clinicians when counselling and facilitating shared decision making. A patient perspective will be valuable in helping guide future studies and in identifying how best to improve patient understanding with a view to engaging patients in their treatment choices.REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0677
Date of REC Opinion
26 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion