ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTIONS OF PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Background: With Singapore’s aging population and escalating prevalence of co-morbidities, the prevalence of AF has increased, exacerbating the presence of serious complications such as heart failure and stroke. Past literatures have shown that AF self-management is influenced by the individual’s knowledge, attitude and perceptions towards AF. However, there are limited studies exploring the factors affecting these three variables, especially in Asia. Aim/Objective: This study investigated the (1) knowledge, attitude and perceptions of AF individuals towards AF, (2) associations between outcome variables (knowledge, attitude, perceptions) with socio-demographic and clinical variables, and (3) associations between knowledge, attitude and perceptions towards AF. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive quantitative design was adopted, utilising a locally validated questionnaire. Methods: Responses from 100 AF participants, recruited from cardiac inpatient wards of an acute government hospital via convenience sampling, were analysed using IBM SPSS version 26.0. Descriptive statistics, Independent-T test, ANOVA, Multiple linear regression (MLR), Spearman rank correlation and Pearson chi-square test were performed to analyse the data to answer the research questions. Results: Age (?=-15.88, p<0.001) and education level (?=15.32, p<0.001) were identified as significant predictors of AF knowledge via MLR, which accounted for 31.6% of variance. Education level (?=14.99, p=0.003) and duration of anticoagulants were (?=14.18, p=0.028) were identified as significant predictors of AF treatment knowledge on Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), which accounted for 24.8% of variance. Negative significant correlation between AF treatment knowledge and how hopeful participants feel about their disease (r=-0.414, p<0.001), and positive significant correlation between AF knowledge and individuals perception on how well-controlled their AF was (r=0.227, p=0.023) were observed based on Spearman rank coefficient. Conclusion: Factors influencing knowledge, attitude and perceptions of AF individuals towards AF were surfaced, providing a foundation for clinicians to develop and tailor educational interventions to ensure effective AF self-management.