Emotional distress in patients before first-time and redo catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation
- 11st Chair, Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, ul. Banacha 1a, Warsaw, 02-097 Poland
Abstract
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is frequently accompanied by anxiety and depressive symptoms, which may affect quality of life. While catheter ablation (CA) is an established therapy for AF, data comparing emotional distress burden prior to first-time vs. redo CA procedures remain limited.
Aim: To compare pre-procedural anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients undergoing first-time AF/atypical atrial flutter CA vs. those undergoing redo AF/atypical atrial flutter CA.
Methods: This prospective observational study included patients with AF or atypical atrial flutter scheduled for CA (first-time or redo) between January 2024 and May 2025. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed one day prior to the CA using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
Results: Overall, 112 patients who underwent first-time CA and 49 patients who underwent redo CA were included. Most baseline characteristics were similar between groups; however, redo CA patients had a higher prevalence of persistent AF and prior stroke and higher CHA₂DS₂-VA scores. Patients scheduled for first-time (vs. redo) CA had significantly higher emotional distress. Median HADS depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in the first-time CA group compared with the redo CA group (10 [9–11] vs. 2 [1–5], p < 0.001 and 13 [11.5–14] vs. 5 [2–9], p < 0.001; respectively. Distributional analyses demonstrated a consistent shift of the HADS-A and HADS-D score distributions toward higher values in the first-time CA group, supported by large non-parametric effect sizes. After adjustment for persistent AF, diabetes mellitus, and prior stroke, first-time CA remained associated with a higher burden of anxiety and depressive symptoms compared with redo CA patients. Persistent AF was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms.
Conclusions: Patients undergoing first-time AF CA experience higher anxiety and depressive symptom burden than those undergoing redo CA.
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BibTeX
@article{jablonska2026emotional,
title = {{Emotional distress in patients before first-time and redo catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation}},
author = {Maja Jabłońska and Bartosz Krzowski and Wojciech Olszewski and Michał Gawlik and Alicja Skrobucha and Mateusz Wawrzeńczyk and Kacper Rutkowski and Julia Szydlik and Weronika Słomiana and Monika Gawałko and Michał Peller and Piotr Lodziński and Marcin Grabowski and Paweł Balsam},
journal = {BMC Cardiovascular Disorders},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12872-026-06397-1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-026-06397-1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Emotional distress in patients before first-time and redo catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation
AU - Maja Jabłońska
AU - Bartosz Krzowski
AU - Wojciech Olszewski
AU - Michał Gawlik
AU - Alicja Skrobucha
AU - Mateusz Wawrzeńczyk
AU - Kacper Rutkowski
AU - Julia Szydlik
AU - Weronika Słomiana
AU - Monika Gawałko
AU - Michał Peller
AU - Piotr Lodziński
AU - Marcin Grabowski
AU - Paweł Balsam
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
DO - 10.1186/s12872-026-06397-1
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-026-06397-1
AB - Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is frequently accompanied by anxiety and depressive symptoms, which may affect quality of life. While catheter ablation (CA) is an established therapy for AF, data comparing emotional distress burden prior to first-time vs. redo CA procedures remain limited. Aim: To compare pre-procedural anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients undergoing first-time AF/atypical atrial flutter CA vs. those undergoing redo AF/atypical atrial flutter CA. Methods: This prospective observational study included patients with AF or atypical atrial flutter scheduled for CA (first-time or redo) between January 2024 and May 2025. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed one day prior to the CA using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: Overall, 112 patients who underwent first-time CA and 49 patients who underwent redo CA were included. Most baseline characteristics were similar between groups; however, redo CA patients had a higher prevalence of persistent AF and prior stroke and higher CHA₂DS₂-VA scores. Patients scheduled for first-time (vs. redo) CA had significantly higher emotional distress. Median HADS depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in the first-time CA group compared with the redo CA group (10 [9–11] vs. 2 [1–5], p < 0.001 and 13 [11.5–14] vs. 5 [2–9], p < 0.001; respectively. Distributional analyses demonstrated a consistent shift of the HADS-A and HADS-D score distributions toward higher values in the first-time CA group, supported by large non-parametric effect sizes. After adjustment for persistent AF, diabetes mellitus, and prior stroke, first-time CA remained associated with a higher burden of anxiety and depressive symptoms compared with redo CA patients. Persistent AF was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Patients undergoing first-time AF CA experience higher anxiety and depressive symptom burden than those undergoing redo CA.
SN - 1471-2261
ER -