Construction of a Multidisciplinary Follow-Up Indicator System Based on the ABC Pathway for Patients with Atrial...

Long-term follow-up is essential for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after ablation. Although the "Atrial Fibrillation Better Care" (ABC) pathway is widely recommended, a structured and operational follow-up indicator system tailored to post-ablation AF patients remains lacking. This study aimed to develop a multidisciplinary follow-up indicator system for post-ablation AF patients based on the ABC pathway.

A preliminary indicator pool was developed through a literature review guided by the ABC pathway and relevant guidelines, and further refined through semi-structured interviews with post-ablation AF patients. A two-round Delphi survey was then conducted among 23 multidisciplinary experts in cardiovascular care and nursing management. Indicators were screened, revised, and finalized according to prespecified consensus criteria and statistical analysis.

A total of 23 experts completed two rounds of the Delphi survey. The response rates were 92.0% in round 1 and 100% in round 2. The authority coefficients were 0.892 and 0.914, respectively.Kendall's W values ranged from 0.229 to 0.370 across indicator levels and rounds, respectively (P < 0.001).

This study developed a preliminary multidisciplinary follow-up indicator system for post-ablation AF patients based on the ABC pathway. The findings provide a consensus-based framework for structuring follow-up content and may inform future clinical application and empirical validation.