Prevalence and Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation Among Older Primary Care Patients

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and morbid arrhythmia. Ascertaining AF frequency is challenging because AF may be paroxysmal and diagnostic codes can be inaccurate. Rigorous contemporary estimates of AF prevalence and incidence are needed to inform interventions to reduce the public health burden of AF. We sought to quantify clinically diagnosed AF prevalence and incidence among control patients in VITAL-AF (Screening for Atrial Fibrillation Among Older Patients in Primary Care Clinics),1 a cluster-randomized trial of AF screening among individuals 65 years or older within 16 Massachusetts General Hospital primary care practices.