Other Study Measures

Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory characteristics of SAGE-AF participants were abstracted from the medical record by study staff after rigorous training with regular quality control checks. Information abstracted from the health record included participants’ age, sex, race, insurance type, comorbidities relevant to stroke, bleeding risk (eg, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, anemia, chronic kidney disease), and cardiovascular treatments (ie, use of antithrombotics). Information about key laboratory tests including levels of serum creatinine, hemoglobin, and international normalized ratio values (over the past 4 wk) were also abstracted from the health record. CHA₂DS₂VAS-C and HAS-BLED (hypertension, abnormal renal and liver function, stroke, bleeding, labile international normalized ratio, elderly, drugs or alcohol) risk scores were calculated based on relevant clinical data in the electronic health record using validated methods.²⁷ Disease-specific QoL was measured using the Atrial Fibrillation Effect on Quality-of-Life (AFEQT) questionnaire, a validated instrument for AF patients that includes subscales for symptom severity, global well-being, AF burden, and impact on healthcare utilization.²⁸ AFEQT scores range from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing higher self-reported health-reported QoL. Education and marital status were self-reported by the participant.