International Journal of Nursing Research

Objective To explore the current status of information overload(IO)in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation(AF)and its relationship with fear of disease progression(FoDP). Methods A total of 195 elderly AF patients admitted to our hospital from February 2024 to February 2025 were selected. The Atrial Fibrillation-Information Overload Self-Assessment Scale (AF-IO-SS) was used to evaluate IO, and the Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF) was applied to assess FoDP. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0, and the Pearson correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between IO and FoDP. Results Regarding IO, the total score of AF-IO-SS was(42.35±6.82) points, with 22.05%of patients in the mild IO group,57.44%in the moderate group, and 20.51%in the severe group. For FoDP, the total score of FoP-Q-SF was(36.89±7.15)points, including 19.49%of patients with mild FoDP,53.85%with moderate FoDP, and 26.67%with severe FoDP. Factors such as age, educational level, number of comorbidities, and information sources had significant effects on the scores of IO and FoDP(P＜0.05).There was a positive correlation between IO and FoDP (r=0.712,P＜0.001). Conclusion Most elderly AF patients have moderate to severe IO and FoDP, and the severity of IO is positively associated with the degree of FoDP. Patients with older age, lower educational level, more comorbidities, or who obtain information from non-regular sources are at higher risk. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the information supply for this population.

Elderly atrial fibrillation; Information overload; Fear of disease progression