Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac rhythm disorder, affecting
1%-4% of the global population.
1
The lifetime risk of developing AF is approximately 25%, which increases with age
and other risk factors.
2
It is currently estimated that 33.5 million people worldwide
3
and more than 350,000 Canadians
4
have AF and the prevalence is expected to increase threefold over the next 3 decades
with experts categorizing the disease as a future epidemic.
5
The increasing prevalence has important public health implications because AF is
responsible for more disability than any other cardiac arrhythmia.
6
In a study that assessed the total costs of AF care in Canada, more than 50% of the
costs of AF represent the direct and indirect costs associated with hospitalizations.
6
,
7
Further, using administrative data from across Canada, the Canadian Cardiovascular
Outcomes Research Team reported that AF hospitalizations were rapidly increasing.
8
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Canadian Journal of CardiologyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Global epidemiology of atrial fibrillation.Nat Rev Cardiol. 2014; 11: 639-654
- Temporal relations of atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure and their joint influence on mortality: the Framingham Heart Study.Circulation. 2003; 107: 2920-2925
- Worldwide epidemiology of atrial fibrillation: a Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study.Circulation. 2014; 129: 837-847
- Atrial Fibrillation.(Available at:) (Accessed August 7, 2019)
- The state of the art: atrial fibrillation epidemiology, prevention, and treatment.Mayo Clin Proc. 2016; 91: 1778-1810
- Assessing the direct costs of treating nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in the United States.Value Health. 2006; 9: 348-356
- Real world effectiveness of warfarin among ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation: observational analysis from Patient-Centered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER) study.BMJ. 2015; 351: h3786
- In-hospital management of atrial fibrillation: the CHADS(2) score predicts increased cost.Can J Cardiol. 2011; 27: 506-513
- 2018 Focused update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation.Can J Cardiol. 2018; 34: 1371-1392
- The impact of ischaemic stroke on atrial fibrillation-related healthcare cost: a systematic review.Europace. 2017; 19: 937-947
- Silent atrial fibrillation: epidemiology, diagnosis, and clinical impact.Clin Cardiol. 2017; 40: 413-418
- Atrial fibrillation and cognitive function: JACC review topic of the week.J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019; 73: 612-619
- Atrial fibrillation, cognitive decline, and dementia: an epidemiologic review.Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2018; 5: 252-261
- The association of atrial fibrillation and dementia incidence: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.J Geriatr Cardiol. 2019; 16: 298-306
- Risk of hospital admission in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Can J Cardiol. 2019; 35: 1332-1343
- Comparison of patient-reported care satisfaction, quality of warfarin therapy, and outcomes of atrial fibrillation: findings from the ORBIT - AF Registry.J Am Heart Assoc. 2019; 8e011205
- Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology: a proposal for reporting. Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) group.JAMA. 2000; 283: 2008-2012
- Impact of dronedarone on hospitalization burden in patients with atrial fibrillation: results from the ATHENA study.Europace. 2011; 13: 1118-1126
- Temporal pattern and costs of rehospitalization in atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter patients with one or more additional risk factors.J Med Econ. 2012; 15: 548-555
- Rates and implications for hospitalization of patients >/=65 years of age with atrial fibrillation/flutter.Am J Cardiol. 2012; 109: 543-549
- Use of rate and rhythm control drugs in patients younger than 65 years with atrial fibrillation.J Atr Fibrillation. 2014; 7: 1062
- Impact of atrial fibrillation on healthcare utilization in the community: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.J Am Heart Assoc. 2014; 3e001006
- Hospitalizations in patients with atrial fibrillation: an analysis from ROCKET AF.Europace. 2016; 18: 1135-1142
- The impact of frailty on mortality, length of stay and re-hospitalisation in older patients with atrial fibrillation.Heart Lung Circ. 2016; 25: 551-557
- Catheter ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation is associated with a reduction in health care resource utilization.J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2017; 28: 733-741
- Healthcare utilization and expenditures in patients with atrial fibrillation treated with catheter ablation.J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012; 23: 1-8
- Evaluating real-world clinical outcomes in atrial fibrillation patients receiving the WATCHMAN left atrial appendage closure technology.Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2019; 12e006841
- Left atrial appendage occlusion: rationale, evidence, devices, and patient selection.Eur Heart J. 2017; 38: 869-876
Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 07, 2019
Accepted:
June 1,
2019
Received:
May 24,
2019
Footnotes
See article by Meyre et al., pages 1332–1343 of this issue.
See page 1292 for disclosure information.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Risk of Hospital Admissions in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysisCanadian Journal of CardiologyVol. 35Issue 10
- PreviewAtrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with multiple comorbidities and various adverse outcome events, suggesting a high risk of hospital admissions in this patient population. However, its exact incidence and potential underlying causes are not well defined. The objective of this systematic review was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for hospital admissions in patients with AF.
- Full-Text
- Preview
