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. 2019 Jun 27:5:2333721419859687.
doi: 10.1177/2333721419859687. eCollection 2019 Jan-Dec.

Prevalence and Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation and Other Arrhythmias in the General Older Population: Findings From the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care

Terese Lindberg  1   2   3 , Anders Wimo  4   5   6 , Sölve Elmståhl  3 , Chengxuan Qiu  4   5 , Doris M Bohman  1 , Johan Sanmartin Berglund  1   2
Affiliations

Prevalence and Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation and Other Arrhythmias in the General Older Population: Findings From the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care

Terese Lindberg et al. Gerontol Geriatr Med. .

Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence and cumulative incidence of arrhythmias in the general population of adults aged 60 and older over a 6-year period. Study Design and Setting: Data were taken from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC), a national, longitudinal, multidisciplinary study of the general elderly population (defined as 60 years of age or older). A 12-lead resting electrocardiography (ECG) was performed at baseline and 6-year follow-up. Results: The baseline prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) was 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [4.5%, 5.5%]), and other arrhythmias including ventricular premature complexes (VPCs), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), and supraventricular extrasystole (SVES) were seen in 8.4% (7.7%, 9.0%) of the population. A first- or second-degree atrioventricular (AV) block was found in 7.1% of the population (95% CI = [6.5%, 7.7%]), and there were no significant differences between men and women in baseline arrhythmia prevalence. The 6-year cumulative incidence of AF was 4.1% (95% CI = [3.5%, 4.9%]), or 6.9/1,000 person-years (py; 95% CI = [5.7, 8.0]). The incidence of AF, other arrhythmias, AV block, and pacemaker-induced rhythm was significantly higher in men in all cohorts except for the oldest. Conclusion: Our data highlight the prevalence and incidence of arrhythmias, which rapidly increase with advancing age in the general population.

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases and risk; chronic diseases; epidemiology; public health/public policy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart of study population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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