Paulien Vermunicht
General practitioners’ perceptions on opportunistic single-time point screening for atrial fibrillation: A European quantitative survey
Vermunicht, Paulien; Grecu, Mihaela; Deharo, Jean-Claude; Buckley, Claire M.; Palà, Elena; Mairesse, Georges H.; Farkowski, Michal M.; Bergonti, Marco; Pürerfellner, Helmut; Hanson, Coral L.; Neubeck, Lis; Freedman, Ben; Witt, Henning; Hills, Mellanie T.; Lund, Jenny; Giskes, Katrina; Engler, Daniel; Schnabel, Renate B.; Heidbuchel, Hein; Desteghe, Lien
Authors
Mihaela Grecu
Jean-Claude Deharo
Claire M. Buckley
Elena Palà
Georges H. Mairesse
Michal M. Farkowski
Marco Bergonti
Helmut Pürerfellner
Dr Coral Hanson C.Hanson@napier.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow
Prof Lis Neubeck L.Neubeck@napier.ac.uk
Professor
Ben Freedman
Henning Witt
Mellanie T. Hills
Jenny Lund
Katrina Giskes
Daniel Engler
Renate B. Schnabel
Hein Heidbuchel
Lien Desteghe
Abstract
Background: There is no clear guidance on how to implement opportunistic atrial fibrillation (AF) screening in daily clinical practice. Objectives: This study evaluated the perception of general practitioners (GPs) about value and practicalities of implementing screening for AF, focusing on opportunistic single-time point screening with a single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) device. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a survey developed to assess overall perception concerning AF screening, feasibility of opportunistic single-lead ECG screening and implementation requirements and barriers. Results: A total of 659 responses were collected (36.1% Eastern, 33.4% Western, 12.1% Southern, 10.0% Northern Europe, 8.3% United Kingdom & Ireland). The perceived need for standardized AF screening was rated as 82.7 on a scale from 0 to 100. The vast majority (88.0%) indicated no AF screening program is established in their region. Three out of four GPs (72.1%, lowest in Eastern and Southern Europe) were equipped with a 12-lead ECG, while a single-lead ECG was less common (10.8%, highest in United Kingdom & Ireland). Three in five GPs (59.3%) feel confident ruling out AF on a single-lead ECG strip. Assistance through more education (28.7%) and a tele-healthcare service offering advice on ambiguous tracings (25.2%) would be helpful. Preferred strategies to overcome barriers like insufficient (qualified) staff, included integrating AF screening with other healthcare programs (24.9%) and algorithms to identify patients most suitable for AF screening (24.3%). Conclusion: GPs perceive a strong need for a standardized AF screening approach. Additional resources may be required to have it widely adopted into clinical practice.
Citation
Vermunicht, P., Grecu, M., Deharo, J.-C., Buckley, C. M., Palà, E., Mairesse, G. H., Farkowski, M. M., Bergonti, M., Pürerfellner, H., Hanson, C. L., Neubeck, L., Freedman, B., Witt, H., Hills, M. T., Lund, J., Giskes, K., Engler, D., Schnabel, R. B., Heidbuchel, H., & Desteghe, L. (2023). General practitioners’ perceptions on opportunistic single-time point screening for atrial fibrillation: A European quantitative survey. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 10, Article 1112561. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1112561
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 25, 2023 |
Online Publication Date | Feb 15, 2023 |
Publication Date | 2023 |
Deposit Date | Jan 31, 2023 |
Publicly Available Date | Feb 15, 2023 |
Journal | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
Electronic ISSN | 2297-055X |
Publisher | Frontiers Media |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 10 |
Article Number | 1112561 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1112561 |
Keywords | atrial fibrillation, screening, AFFECT-EU, survey, general practitioners |
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