Three engagement profiles found among atrial fibrillation ablation patients

A cross-sectional study of 513 patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation at three tertiary hospitals in Shanghai identified three distinct profiles of patient engagement in health care. Latent profile analysis placed 12.3% of participants in a low-engagement group, 48.7% in a medium-engagement group and 39.0% in a high-engagement group. Patients with higher health literacy, greater trust in physicians or stronger perceived physician facilitation were more likely than those in the low-engagement group to belong to either of the more engaged profiles.

The investigation, published in BMC Health Services Research, examined engagement from individual and interpersonal perspectives. Researchers assessed patient engagement with the Patient Engagement in Health Care Questionnaire and used its dimensions as indicators in the latent profile analysis, which identified the three groups according to their patterns of questionnaire responses. The study population was limited to patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation at the participating Shanghai hospitals, and its cross-sectional design captured relationships at a single point rather than changes over time.

The researchers assessed health literacy with a validated Chinese version of the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale. They evaluated trust in physicians with the Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale, perceived physician facilitation with the Facilitation of Patient Involvement Scale and perceived social support with the Perceived Social Support Scale. Univariate analyses and multinomial logistic regression were then used to examine whether these individual and interpersonal factors were associated with membership in the three engagement profiles.

Relative to patients in the low-engagement profile, those with higher health literacy, trust in physicians and perceived physician facilitation were more likely to be classified into the medium- or high-engagement profile. Perceived social support was not significantly associated with profile membership in the analysis. These findings describe statistical associations, not causal effects: the study did not determine that changes in health literacy, physician trust or clinician facilitation would cause a patient to enter a more engaged group.

The results show that patient engagement among this group of ablation patients was heterogeneous rather than represented by a single uniform level. The largest category was the medium-engagement profile, accounting for nearly half of the sample, while the low-engagement profile represented 12.3% and the high-engagement profile 39.0%. The authors concluded that health care professionals could develop targeted interventions based on the characteristics of the different profiles, but the investigation did not test such interventions or measure their effects. Because the data came from three tertiary hospitals in one city and the study was observational and cross-sectional, the findings do not establish whether the profiles predict ablation outcomes or whether they apply to patients treated in other settings.

Subject of Research: Patient-engagement profiles and associated factors among atrial fibrillation ablation patients

Article Title: Profiles of patient engagement in health care and associated factors among patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: a latent profile analysis

Article References: Xiao, G., Wu, Y., Li, S., Wang, Q., & Wu, Q. (2026). Profiles of patient engagement in health care and associated factors among patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: a latent profile analysis. BMC Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15130-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15130-9

Keywords: atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation, patient engagement, latent profile analysis, health literacy, physician trust, clinical facilitation, cross-sectional study, Shanghai, health services research, Profiles, patient