Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002:2:5.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2261-2-5. Epub 2002 Feb 26.

Risk of mortality in a cohort of patients newly diagnosed with chronic atrial fibrillation

Ana Ruigómez  1 , Saga Johansson, Mari-Ann Wallander, Luis Alberto García Rodríguez
Affiliations

Risk of mortality in a cohort of patients newly diagnosed with chronic atrial fibrillation

Ana Ruigómez et al. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2002.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the mortality rate of patients newly diagnosed with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) and compare it with the one in the general population. To evaluate the role of co-morbidity and other factors on the risk of dying among AF patients.

Methods: We used the General Practice Research Database in the UK to perform a retrospective cohort study. We followed a cohort of chronic AF patients (N = 1,035) and an age and sex matched cohort of 5,000 subjects sampled from the general population. We used all deceased AF patients as cases (n = 234) and the remaining AF patients as controls to perform a nested case-control analysis. We estimated mortality risk associated with AF using Cox regression. We computed mortality relative risks using logistic regression among AF patients.

Results: During a mean follow-up of two years, 393 patients died in the general population cohort and 234 in the AF cohort. Adjusted relative risk of death in the cohort of AF was 2.5 (95%CI 2.1 - 3.0) compared to the general population. Among AF patients, mortality risk increased remarkably with advancing age. Smokers carried a relative risk of dying close to threefold. Ischaemic heart disease was the strongest clinical predictor of mortality with a RR of 3.0 (95% CI; 2.1-4.1). Current use of calcium channel blockers, warfarin and aspirin was associated with a decreased risk of mortality.

Conclusions: Chronic AF is an important determinant of increased mortality. Major risk factors for mortality in the AF cohort were age, smoking and cardiovascular co-morbidity, in particular ischaemic heart disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier survival curve for chronic atrial fibrillation and general population cohorts. (mean follow-up time 22 months -SD 12.9; range: 0.5–47 months).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Go AS, Hylek EM, Phillips KA, Chang Y, Henault LE, Selby JV, Singer DE. Prevalence of diagnosed atrial fibrillation in adults. National Implications for rhythm management and stroke prevention: The anticoagulation and risk factors in atrial fibrillation (ATRIA) Study. JAMA. 2001;285:2370–2375. - PubMed
    1. Benjamin EJ, Wolf PA, D'Agostino RB, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB, Levy D. Impact of atrial fibrillation on the risk of death: The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 1998;98:946–952. - PubMed
    1. Krahn AD, Manfreda J, Tate RB, Mathewson FA, Cuddy TE. The natural history of atrial fibrillation: incidence, risk factors, and prognosis in the Manitoba Follow-up study. Am J Med. 1995;98:476–84. - PubMed
    1. Ruigómez A, Johansson S, Wallander MA, García Rodríguez LA. The incidence of chronic atrial fibrillation in general practice and its treatment pattern. J Clin Epidemiol. 2002;55:358–363. - PubMed
    1. Benjamin EJ, Levy D, Vaziri SM, D'Agostino RB, Belanger AJ, Wolf PA. Independent risks factors for atrial fibrillation in a population-based cohort: The Framingham Heart Study. JAMA. 1994;271:840–844. - PubMed

Publication types