BACKGROUND: Digital education for outpatient patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has gradually increased. However, research on digital education for patients undergoing atrial fibrillation catheter ablation (AFCA) is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a novel digital animation-based multistage education system and evaluate its quality-of-life benefits for patients with AFCA. METHODS: This randomized controlled clinical trial included 208 patients with AF who underwent catheter ablation in the Department of Cardiology at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between January 2022 and August 2023. The patients were randomly assigned to the digital animation intervention (n=104) and standard treatment (n=104) groups. The primary outcome was the difference in the quality of life of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF-QoL-18) scores at 3 months. Secondary outcomes included differences in scores on the 5-item Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) at 3 months. RESULTS: In the digital animation intervention group, the AF-QoL-18 score increased from 38.02 (SD 6.52) to 47.77 (SD 5.74), the MARS-5 score increased from 17.04 (SD 3.03) to 20.13 (SD 2.12), the SAS score decreased from 52.82 (SD 8.08) to 45.39 (SD 6.13), and the SDS score decreased from 54.12 (SD 6.13) to 45.47 (SD 5.94), 3 months post discharge from the hospital. In the conventional treatment group, the AF-QoL-18 score increased from 36.97 (SD 7.00) to 45.31 (SD 5.71), the MARS-5 score increased from 17.14 (SD 3.01) to 18.47 (SD 2.79), the SAS score decreased from 51.83 (SD 7.74) to 47.31 (SD 5.87), and the SDS score decreased from 52.78 (SD 5.21) to 45.37 (SD 6.18). The mean difference in AF-QoL-18 score change between the 2 groups was 1.41 (95% CI 2.42-0.40, P=.006) at 3 months. The mean difference in MARS-5 score change was 1.76 (95% CI 2.42-1.10, P<
.001). The mean difference in SAS score was -2.91 (95% CI -3.88 to -1.95, P<
.001). Additionally, the mean difference in SDS score was -1.23 (95% CI -0.02 to -2.44, P=.047). CONCLUSIONS: Our study introduces a novel digital animation educational approach that provides multidimensional, easily understandable, and multistage education for patients with AF undergoing catheter ablation. This educational model effectively improves postoperative anxiety, depression, medication adherence, and quality of life in patients at 3 months post discharge. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2400081673
https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=201059.