AbstractBackgroundThe atrial fibrillation better care (ABC) pathway is a simple, comprehensive framework that facilitates provision of integrated care for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients.ObjectiveWe evaluated management of AF patients in a secondary prevention cohort using the ABC pathway and examined the impact of ABC adherence on clinical outcomes.MethodsThe Chinese Patients with Atrial Fibrillation registry is a prospective registry conducted in 44 sites across China between October 2014 and December 2018. The primary outcome was the composite of all‐cause mortality/any thromboembolism (TE), all‐cause death, any TE and major bleeding at 1 year.ResultsOf the 6420 patients, 1588 (24.7%) had a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack and were identified as the secondary prevention cohort. After excluding 793 patients due to insufficient data, 358 (22.5%) were ABC compliant and 437 (27.5%) ABC noncompliant. ABC adherence was associated with a significantly lower risk of the composite outcome of all‐cause death/TE, odds ratio (OR) 0.28 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11–0.71) and all‐cause death, OR 0.29 (95% CI: 0.09–0.90). Significant differences were not observed for TE, OR 0.27 (95% CI: 0.06–1.27) and major bleeding, OR 2.09 (95% CI: 0.55–7.97). Age and prior major bleeding were significant predictors of ABC noncompliance. Health‐related quality of life (QOL) was higher in the ABC compliant group versus the noncompliant group (EQ score 0.83 ± 0.17 vs. 0.78 ± 0.20;p= .004).ConclusionABC pathway adherence in secondary prevention AF patients was associated with a significantly lower risk of the composite outcome of all‐cause death/TE and all‐cause death, as well as better health‐related QOL.