Atrial fibrillation (AF), common in older adults, increases the risk of heart failure, stroke, and all-cause mortality. Self-care behaviors help avoid adverse events in older patients with AF. However, while frailty and cognitive impairment can contribute to poor self-care behaviors, few studies have explored these relationships in older adults with AF. This cross-sectional study aims to determine associations between frailty, cognitive impairment, and self-care behaviors among older adults with AF by gender. A total of 298 patients with AF aged 60 and over were assessed with a self-reported questionnaire consisting of the Korean version of the FRAIL scale, modified mini-mental state examination, and self-care scale for AF. Prevalence of frailty and prefrailty in men and women was around 11% and 48.4% and 28% and 47.4%, respectively. According to the hierarchical linear regression analysis, in men, prefrailty (β = -2.874, p = 0.013) and frailty (β = -7.698, p < 0.001) were associated with self-care behaviors; in women, frailty (β = -5.476, p = 0.003), and cognitive impairment (β = -3.350, p = 0.044) were associated with self-care behaviors. Developing individualized care plans will require periodic screening of older patients with AF to determine their frailty status and cognitive function.
Keywords: atrial fibrillation; cognition; frailty; gender; self-care behaviors.