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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the factors influencing HRQoL in patients with AF are not well understood. The purpose of integrative review was to investigate the factors affecting HRQoL in patients with AF based on the six domains of Ferrans and colleagues’ HRQoL model. A total of 23 relevant articles published between January 2000 and March 2018 were identified using four databases and analyzed in this study. Our review showed that the HRQoL in patients with AF was consistently lower than both healthy individuals and patients with other cardiovascular diseases. The most common factor associated with HRQoL in patients with AF was anxiety-specific to AF in the symptoms domain, followed by frequency and severity of symptoms and the New York Heart Association functional class. This study highlights that monitoring and assessing patients’ symptoms is vital for improving HRQoL in patients with AF. Disease-specific and cross-culturally validated tools can allow healthcare professionals to provide tailored interventions for patients with AF.

BackgroundChronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive and lifelong condition with multiple medical comorbidities. Patients with CKD experience frailty more frequently and have lower health-related quality of life than do those with other chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of frailty and investigate the contribution of frailty to quality of life in pre-dialysis CKD patients in Korea.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected at an outpatient CKD clinic in a general hospital in Korea. The frailty criterion was modified from previous studies. The Short Form-36 Health Survey version 2 was used to measure physical and mental component summary scores. Data were analyzed using chi-square, t-tests, and hierarchical linear regression.ResultsOf the 168 CKD patients, 63 (37.5 %) were frail. Frail patients were significantly older and had lower physical and mental quality of life than those who were non-frail. In hierarchical regression evaluating the influence of frailty on physical and mental quality of life, the initial model was significantly improved when frailty was included. Frail patients had lower physical and mental quality of life.ConclusionsFrailty affected both physical and mental quality of life in pre-dialysis patients with CKD. More attention should be paid to the potential role of early detection and prevention of frailty to improve patients’ quality of life.

Dietary acculturation of immigrants is a common phenomenon regardless of the country from which they immigrate. Healthcare professionals should consider the advantages and disadvantages of dietary acculturation in health promotion for immigrants.

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This study reported both positive and negative experiences of simulation. The results of this study could be used to set the level of task difficulty in simulation. Future simulation programs can be designed by reinforcing the positive experiences and modifying the negative results.