Dataset Information

Atrial fibrillation prevalence and risk profile from novel community-based screening in Thailand: A prospective multi-centre study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In Thailand, almost one-quarter of strokes are related to atrial fibrillation (AF), and many could be prevented if AF were diagnosed and treated prior to the stroke. Therefore, we tested a novel strategy to screen large numbers of community residents using village health volunteers and primary care nurses.

Methods

Local primary care nurses and village health volunteers in Phetchaburi and Lopburi provinces, Thailand were trained to perform AF screening using a blood pressure device with AF algorithm (Microlife A200 AFib). 10% of residents aged ? 65 years were randomly selected for screening during home-visits. Participants with possible AF were given follow-up appointments for further testing, including 12-lead ECG and echocardiogram.

Results

Over two-months, 9.7% (13,864/143,478) of the target population were screened: mean age 73.2 ± 6.4 years, 32.4% male. The estimated AF prevalence (detected by Microlife A200 AFib) was 2.8% (95% CI, 2.6-3.1%) for age ? 65 years (i.e. 393/13,864 participants). Prevalence increased with age from 1.9% (65-69 years) to 5.0% (?85 years) (p < 0.001). Only 58% (226/393) of participants with suspected AF attended the follow-up appointment (1-3 months after initial screen): mean CHA2DS2-VASc score 3.2 ± 1.2; 86.3% (195/226) had Class-1 oral anticoagulation recommendation, and 33% (75/226) had AF on 12-lead ECG.

Conclusions

In Thailand, large-scale AF screening in the community is feasible using trained volunteer health workers, allowing screening of large numbers in a short time-period. Further investigation of this strategy is warranted, ensuring mechanisms to obtain a timely rhythm strip or 12-lead ECG locally, and a designated pathway to treatment.

SUBMITTER: Suwanwela NC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7811109 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Atrial fibrillation prevalence and risk profile from novel community-based screening in Thailand: A prospective multi-centre study.

Suwanwela Nijasri C NC Chutinet Aurauma A Autjimanon Hathairat H Ounahachok Tanawat T Decha-Umphai Chumpol C Chockchai Songkhram S Indrabhakti Saowanin S Kijpaisalratana Naruchorn N Akarathanawat Wasan W Travanichakul Suporn S Kitjavijitre Teeraparp T Vongvasinkul Pakkawan P Kanacharoen Ittaporn I Bunlikitkul Tanyaluk O TO Charnwut Supparat S Lowres Nicole N Freedman Ben B

International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature 20210112

<h4>Background</h4>In Thailand, almost one-quarter of strokes are related to atrial fibrillation (AF), and many could be prevented if AF were diagnosed and treated prior to the stroke. Therefore, we tested a novel strategy to screen large numbers of community residents using village health volunteers and primary care nurses.<h4>Methods</h4>Local primary care nurses and village health volunteers in Phetchaburi and Lopburi provinces, Thailand were trained to perform AF screening using a blood pres ...[more]

PMID: 33490362

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Project description:AimsThere is rising healthcare utilization related to the increasing incidence and prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide. Simplifying therapy and reducing hospital episodes would be a valuable development. The efficacy of a streamlined AF ablation approach was compared to drug therapy and a conventional catheter ablation technique for symptom control in paroxysmal AF.Methods and resultsWe recruited 321 patients with symptomatic paroxysmal AF to a prospective randomized, multi-centre, open label trial at 13 UK hospitals. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to cryo-balloon ablation without electrical mapping with patients discharged same day [Ablation Versus Anti-arrhythmic Therapy for Reducing All Hospital Episodes from Recurrent (AVATAR) protocol]; optimization of drug therapy; or cryo-balloon ablation with confirmation of pulmonary vein isolation and overnight hospitalization. The primary endpoint was time to any hospital episode related to treatment for atrial arrhythmia. Secondary endpoints included complications of treatment and quality-of-life measures. The hazard ratio (HR) for a primary endpoint event occurring when comparing AVATAR protocol arm to drug therapy was 0.156 (95% CI, 0.097-0.250; P < 0.0001 by Cox regression). Twenty-three patients (21%) recorded an endpoint event in the AVATAR arm compared to 76 patients (74%) within the drug therapy arm. Comparing AVATAR and conventional ablation arms resulted in a non-significant HR of 1.173 (95% CI, 0.639-2.154; P = 0.61 by Cox regression) with 23 patients (21%) and 19 patients (18%), respectively, recording primary endpoint events (P = 0.61 by log-rank test).ConclusionThe AVATAR protocol was superior to drug therapy for avoiding hospital episodes related to AF treatment, but conventional cryoablation was not superior to the AVATAR protocol. This could have wide-ranging implications on how demand for AF symptom control is met.Trial registrationClinical Trials Registration: NCT02459574.

Project description:Identifying risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) and evaluating their impact are essential to avoid the occurrence of adverse events. However, few studies to date have explored the prevalence, risk factors, and prognosis of AF in hypertensive patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of AF in a hypertensive population and determine the relationship between AF and all-cause mortality. At baseline, a total of 8541 Chinese patients with hypertension were enrolled from the Northeast Rural Cardiovascular Health Study. A logistic regression model was established to assess the relationship between blood pressure and AF, and Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis and multivariate Cox regression were used to explore the relationship between AF and all-cause mortality. Meanwhile, subgroup analyses illustrated the robustness of results. This study found that the overall prevalence rate of AF was 1.4% in its Chinese hypertensive population. After adjusting for the confounding factors, every standard deviation increase in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was associated with a 37% increase in the prevalence of AF (95% confidence interval: 1.152-1.627, p < .001). Compared to hypertensive patients without AF, those with AF had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 1.866, 95% confidence interval: 1.117-3.115, p = .017) in the adjusted model. The results show that the burden of AF is quite large in rural-dwelling Chinese hypertensive patients. Focusing on the control of DBP to prevent the occurrence of AF can be helpful. Meanwhile, AF increases risk of all-cause mortality in hypertensive patients. Our results indicated a huge burden of AF. Considering that most of the risk factors of AF were unmodifiable in hypertensive individuals and given their high risk of mortality, long-term interventions, including AF education, timely screening, and widespread use of anticoagulant drugs, should be emphasized in hypertensive populations.

Dataset Information

Atrial fibrillation prevalence and risk profile from novel community-based screening in Thailand: A prospective multi-centre study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Atrial fibrillation prevalence and risk profile from novel community-based screening in Thailand: A prospective multi-centre study.

Similar Datasets

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