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. 2023 Mar;15(3):148-160.
doi: 10.14740/jocmr4884. Epub 2023 Mar 28.

Risk Factors Associated With Atrial Fibrillation in Elderly Patients

Jeeyong Shin  1 , Megha Andrews  1 , Lindsey DeJean  1 , Nicole Debski  1 , Alyssa Exarchakis  1 , Julia Fleming  1 , Roshni Gandhi  1 , Christina Hum  1 , Abyson Kalladanthyil  1 , Rohini Maddigunta  1 , Logan Napoli  1 , Cynthia Nguyen  1 , Reshma Paul  1 , Nicole Schmalbach  1 , Joseph Sichel  1 , Samuel Snyder  1 , Matthew Stern  1 , Subhadra Thampi  1 , Jesse Viggiano  1 , Gabriella Yao  1 , Krystal Hunter  2 , Satyajeet Roy  1   3
Affiliations

Risk Factors Associated With Atrial Fibrillation in Elderly Patients

Jeeyong Shin et al. J Clin Med Res. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia with a growing prevalence worldwide, especially in the elderly population. Patients with AF are at higher risk of serious life-threatening events and complications that may lead to long-term sequelae and reduce quality of life. The aim of our study was to examine the association of additional risk factors and comorbid medical conditions with AF in patients 65 years, or older.

Methods: We performed a retrospective electronic medical record review of patients aged 65 years and older, who visited our internal medicine office between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

Results: Among 2,433 patients, 418 patients (17.2%) had AF. Our analysis showed that for each unit increased in age, there was a 4.5% increase in the odds of AF (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-6.9%; P < 0.001). Compared to patients of Caucasian descent, African-American patients had significantly decreased odds of AF (odds ratio (OR) 0.274, 95% CI 0.141 - 0.531; P < 0.001). Patients with hypertension had 2.241 greater odds of AF (95% CI 1.421 - 3.534; P = 0.001). Additional comorbidities with significantly greater odds of AF included other cardiac arrhythmias (OR 2.523, 95% CI 1.720 - 3.720; P < 0.001), congestive heart failure (OR 3.111, 95% CI 1.674 - 5.784; P < 0.001), osteoarthritis (OR 3.014, 95% CI 2.138 - 4.247; P < 0.001), liver disease (OR 2.129, 95% CI 1.164 - 3.893; P = 0.014), and colorectal disease (OR 1.500 95% CI 1.003 - 2.243; P = 0.048). Comorbidities with significantly decreased odds of AF included other rheumatological disorder (OR 0.144, 95% CI 0.086 - 0.243; P < 0.001), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use (OR 0.206, 95% CI 0.125 - 0.338; P < 0.001), and corticosteroid use (OR 0.553, 95% CI 0.374 - 0.819; P = 0.003).

Conclusions: Increasing age, hypertension, presence of other cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, liver disease, and colorectal disease are associated with increased odds of having AF.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Elderly population; Risk factors of atrial fibrillation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequencies of associated medical diagnoses.
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