Home Cardiology Lifetime Risk for Atrial Fibrillation Is One in Seven in Taiwan

Lifetime Risk for Atrial Fibrillation Is One in Seven in Taiwan

Among Asian patients, a-fib linked to increased risk of mortality, heart failure, ischemic stroke, dementia

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 28, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For adults in Taiwan, the lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation is about one in seven, according to a study published in the February issue of CHEST.

Tze-Fan Chao, M.D., from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues calculated the incidence, prevalence, and lifetime risk of AF using data from the Taiwan Nationwide AF Cohort Study.

The researchers found that in 2011, the incidence of AF was 1.51 per 1,000 person-years, with the estimated lifetime risk of AF being one in seven individuals aged >20 years. By 2050, the prevalence of AF is estimated to be 4.01 percent. AF was associated with an increased risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.61), heart failure (aHR, 3.31), ischemic stroke (aHR, 3.34), dementia (aHR, 1.56), sudden cardiac death (aHR, 1.83), and myocardial infarction (aHR, 1.62) compared to patients without AF. The risks of ischemic stroke, heart failure, and mortality were highest in the initial period (approximately six months) after AF diagnosis.

“Optimized management of any associated comorbidities should be part of the holistic management approach for AF,” the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

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