Association of early postoperative telephone follow-up with medication adherence and short-term outcomes in patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation

Ma Ai; Liu Chang; Shi Jihui; Zhao Yize; Wang Wenyu; He Liu; Zhao Xiaopai; Ma Changsheng

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2026.07.007

Abstract：Objective To explore the impact of active telephone follow-up within 1 month after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation(AF)on perioperative medication adherence,incidence of clinical outcome events and rehospitalization rates based on routine follow-up.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted.A total of 547 patients who underwent elective AF surgery at Beijing Anzhen Hospital,Capital Medical University in January 2025 were enrolled as the intervention group,receiving one active telephone follow-up within 1 month after surgery;893 patients who underwent elective surgery at our hospital in February 2025 were included as the control group,only receiving routine first outpatient follow-up at 3 months after surgery.The telephone follow-up included verifying understanding of medical advice,guiding medication administration,answering questions,evaluating postoperative recovery,identifying abnormal symptoms and providing medical guidance,and offering psychological support.The primary outcome was medication adherence at 6 months post operatively,and secondary outcomes included thromboembolic events,bleeding events and rehospitalization within 6 months postoperatively.Results In terms of medication adherence at 6 months postoperatively,the proportion of patients in the intervention group who continuously adhered to anticoagulant medication according to the CHA2DS2-VASc score was significantly higher than that in the control group[53.9％(295/547)vs 42.9％(383/893)](x2=16.598,P＜0.001);the propor-tion of patients in the intervention group who discontinued antiarrhythmic drugs as directed was significantly higher than that in the control group[82.8％(453/547)vs 77.5％(692/893)](x2=6.274,P=0.012).There was no significant difference in the incidence of thromboembolic and bleeding events between the two groups(both P＞0.05).In terms of rehospitalization,the incidence of outpatient visits for cardiovascular diseases in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in the control group[8.4％(46/547)vs 4.9％(44/893)](P=0.008).There were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidence of emergency visits for cardiovascular diseases(P=0.174),hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases(P=0.627),and re-visits or hospitalization for cardiovascular reasons(P=0.053).Conclusion Early active telephone follow-up after radiofrequency ablation for AF can significantly improve patients' adherence to anticoagulant and antiarrhythmic medications without increasing the risk of short-term adverse events.This follow-up model can serve as a supple-mentary method to routine outpatient follow-up.