Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and financial burden in younger adults hospitalized with atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation is the most frequently occurring and studied arrhythmia. There is a limited data on young patients presenting with atrial fibrillation.

Objective: The objective of this research article was to assess the trend of hospitalization, epidemiological characteristics and economic burden in the young adult, aged 18-45 years, presenting with atrial fibrillation.

Methods: Hospitalization data from the National Inpatient Sample between 2005 and 2015 were used to analyze prevalence of risk factors and financial burden in young adults with atrial fibrillation.

Results: From 2005 to 2015, a total of 260,080 admissions were included in the study. From 2005 to 2015, there was a decreasing trend of total admissions with atrial fibrillation among the age group of 18-45 years compared to total admissions due to atrial fibrillation and total population. However, there was an increasing trend of admission observed in young females, white and black population. The frequency of hypertension, diabetes and obesity among young adults admitted with atrial fibrillation nearly doubled from 2005 to 2015. There was also a marked increase in the frequency of obstructive sleep apnea, alcohol abuse and drug abuse among patients admitted with atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, there was an increase in the mean cost of hospitalization from $7363 in 2005 to $7924 in 2015, P_trend < 0.001.

Conclusion: In conclusion, increased cardiovascular risk factors among young adult with admissions for atrial fibrillation warrants controlling of the risk factors to further curtail hospitalizations.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Resource utilization; Risk factors; Young population.