Description of the sample
The sample consisted of 5 clinicians (three physicians, one NP, and one
PA) and 15 patients, whose demographic characteristics and literacy
levels are presented in Table 1 . Patients’ mean age was 71.1 ±
8.6 years, one-third were female, one-third identified as non-White.
Nearly one-quarter of participants did not speak English as their
primary language, 20% reported inadequate financial resources, half had
a high school education or less, and half had inadequate health
literacy. The mean subjective numeracy score was moderate (mean score
12.7 ± 4.1), indicating moderate perceived ability to perform
mathematical tasks and preference for numerical versus prose
information.25In qualitative interviews, participants who reported high subjective
numeracy frequently related it to their professional identities as a
“businessperson” or a similar role that involves working with numbers.
The time since ablation ranged from 1 to 18 months (mean 7.0 [SD
7.0] months). Most patients rated their first episode of AF as severe
(mean 7.3 ± 2.9 out of 10), 40% had a prior cardioversion, and 33% had
a prior ablation to treat AF. In the past year, half had gone to the
emergency room or the hospital and almost all (93%) had seen a
cardiologist for AF. Prior to an ablation, patient symptom severity
ranged from “barely noticeable” to extremely severe, with symptomatic
patients reporting a wide range of symptoms. Most patients described
long histories of trialing multiple medications and interventions
(including cardioversions and previous ablations) to treat AF, which was
a major source of anxiety and hardship. One patient stated that“AFib was harder for me to get over than cancer.” -Patient 6.
Others described the burden that paroxysmal AF symptoms, which may come
and go with little warning, had on their mental health before the
ablation:“I felt like it was a sword hanging over my head. I
never knew when I would start to feel AFib, whether it was going to pass
in an hour, whether it was not going to pass in an hour. And it made me
more anxious. And it was anticipatory anxiety that I had.” -Patient 2.