Objective To determine the impact of age on the sinus node function in the patients with prolonged sinus pauses after termination of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Methods A total of 358 consecutive PAF patients with age of (63±11) years (220 males and 138 females) who received radiofrequeney ablation in our department from May 2011 to May 2013 were enrolled in this study. They were divided into 2 groups: older group (n＝181, ≥65 years old) and non-older group (n＝177, ＜65 years old). The prevalence of prolonged sinus pauses before the ablation and the rate of sinus node functional restoration after procedure were compared between the 2 groups. Results The older patients tended to have higher prevalence of prolonged sinus pauses after termination of PAF (indicating sinus node dysfunction) than non-older patients (14.4% vs 5.6%, P＜0.01). After the follow-up of (15.0±8.7) months, the prevalence of sinus node dysfunction was significantly lower than before catheter ablation in non-older group (1.1% vs 5.6%, P＜0.05). But there was only a decreasing trend in older patients (9.4% vs 14.4%, P＞0.05). The rate of sinus node functional restoration was significantly lower in older patients than in non-older ones, (34.6% vs 80.0%, P＜0.05). Conclusion Age plays an important role in the evaluation of sinus node function in patients with prolonged sinus pauses after termination of PAF. For the elderly patients with PAF, radiofrequency ablation exerts no obvious effect on sinus node function, and permanent pacemaker implantation is recommended in this situation.