TY - JOUR
T1 - Atrial fibrillation: profile and burden of an evolving epidemic in the 21st century
AU - Ball, Jocasta Clare
AU - Carrington, Melinda
AU - McMurray, John J V
AU - Stewart, Simon
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents an increasing public health challenge with profound social and economic implications. Methods: A comprehensive synthesis and review of the AF literature was performed. Overall, key findings from 182 studies were used to describe the indicative scope and impact of AF from an individual to population perspective. Results: There are many pathways to AF including advancing age, cardiovascular disease and increased levels of obesity/metabolic disorders. The reported population prevalence of AF ranges from 2.3 -3.4 and historical trends reflect increased AF incidence. Estimated life-time risk of AF is around 1 in 4. Primary care contacts reflect whole population trends: AF-related case-presentations increase from less than 0.5 in those aged 40 years or less to 6-12 for those aged 85 years or more. Globally, AF-related hospitalisations (primary or secondary diagnosis) showed an upward trend (from 35 to over 100 admissions/10,000 persons) during 1996 to 2006. The estimated cost of AF is greater than 1 of health care expenditure and rising with hospitalisations the largest contributor. For affected individuals, quality of life indices are poor and AF confers an independent 1.5 to 2.0-fold probability of death in the longer-term. AF is also closely linked to ischaemic stroke (3- to 5-fold risk), chronic heart failure (up to 50 develop AF) and acute coronary syndromes (up to 25 develop AF) with consistently worse outcomes reported with concurrent AF. Future projections predict at least a doubling of AF cases by 2050. Summary: AF represents an evolving, global epidemic providing considerable challenges to minimise its impact from an individual to whole society perspective.
AB - Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents an increasing public health challenge with profound social and economic implications. Methods: A comprehensive synthesis and review of the AF literature was performed. Overall, key findings from 182 studies were used to describe the indicative scope and impact of AF from an individual to population perspective. Results: There are many pathways to AF including advancing age, cardiovascular disease and increased levels of obesity/metabolic disorders. The reported population prevalence of AF ranges from 2.3 -3.4 and historical trends reflect increased AF incidence. Estimated life-time risk of AF is around 1 in 4. Primary care contacts reflect whole population trends: AF-related case-presentations increase from less than 0.5 in those aged 40 years or less to 6-12 for those aged 85 years or more. Globally, AF-related hospitalisations (primary or secondary diagnosis) showed an upward trend (from 35 to over 100 admissions/10,000 persons) during 1996 to 2006. The estimated cost of AF is greater than 1 of health care expenditure and rising with hospitalisations the largest contributor. For affected individuals, quality of life indices are poor and AF confers an independent 1.5 to 2.0-fold probability of death in the longer-term. AF is also closely linked to ischaemic stroke (3- to 5-fold risk), chronic heart failure (up to 50 develop AF) and acute coronary syndromes (up to 25 develop AF) with consistently worse outcomes reported with concurrent AF. Future projections predict at least a doubling of AF cases by 2050. Summary: AF represents an evolving, global epidemic providing considerable challenges to minimise its impact from an individual to whole society perspective.
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167527313000041
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijcard.2012.12.093
DO - 10.1016/j.ijcard.2012.12.093
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-5273
VL - 167
SP - 1807
EP - 1824
JO - International Journal of Cardiology
JF - International Journal of Cardiology
IS - 5
ER -
