Research Output
Atrial fibrillation: is there enough evidence to recommend opportunistic or systematic screening?
  Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart arrhythmia, the prevalence rising with age to 18% for those aged  ≥85 years. It is associated with a 5-fold higher likelihood of stroke, a doubling of mortality and an increased likelihood of heart failure, myocardial infarction and dementia.
It is estimated that 1.6% of the population aged  ≥65 have undiagnosed, largely asymptomatic AF. For those diagnosed with AF, treatment with appropriate oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy can reduce stroke by 64% [95% confidence interval (CI): 49%–74%] and all-cause mortality by 26% (95% CI: 3%–43%). Guidelines recommend treatment for those with one or more additional risk factors for stroke as set out in the universally accepted CHA2DS2-VASc score (Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age and Diabetes). In addition, a recent study suggested that early OAC treatment reduces subsequent dementia.

  • Type:

    Review

  • Date:

    21 June 2018

  • Publication Status:

    Published

  • DOI:

    10.1093/ije/dyy111

  • ISSN:

    0300-5771

  • Library of Congress:

    WG 18.2 Cardiology

  • Dewey Decimal Classification:

    616 Diseases

  • Funders:

    Edinburgh Napier Funded; New South Wales Health Cardiovascular Research Network Research Development; Heart Foundation; NSW; Australian Government Research Training Program; NSW Health Early Career Fellowship

Citation

Orchard, J., Lowres, N., Neubeck, L., & Freedman, B. (2018). Atrial fibrillation: is there enough evidence to recommend opportunistic or systematic screening?. International Journal of Epidemiology, 47(5), 1372-1378. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyy111

Authors

Keywords

Atrial fibrillation, heart arrhythmia, stroke, mortality, screening,

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