Screening for untreated atrial fibrillation in the elderly population: A community-based study.

backgroundStrokes are common in people with atrial fibrillation (AF), and can have devastating consequences, especially in the elderly and if AF is untreated. However, community-based studies on screening for untreated AF have not been conducted in Japan, and there has been no evaluation of the effectiveness of early screening for AF in the elderly (≥65 years).

methodsThe Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine (KPUM) Education Initiative has conducted an AF awareness campaign consisted of screening tests using a blood pressure (BP) monitor with electrocardiogram (ECG) (the Complete, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan) and educational lectures for the elderly (≥65 years) from 2019 to 2020. A modeled effectiveness analysis was performed comparing the life-years and QALYs (quality-adjusted life-years) between direct-acting oral anticoagulation (DOAC)-treated AF and untreated AF in a Japanese setting. The basic description of the Markov model was used for the analysis.

resultsA total of 1648 participants were screened, and after excluding those with missing information or data (n = 41), 1607 were finally enrolled. The mean (± standard deviation) age of participants was 72.4±5.8 years, 827 (51.5%) were female, 628 (39.1%) had hypertension, and 1368 (85.1%) had CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥2. After cardiologists' evaluation of all ECG recordings of the Complete, 15 (0.93%) AF were newly detected. For each AF treated with DOAC, 0.859 QALYs gained over the lifetime for 65 years-old men, and 0.856 QALYs for 65 years-old women compared to non-treatment.

conclusionA moderate number of untreated AF were identified in the community-based study. Identification of an increased number of patients with AF, if properly treated with DOAC, ultimately leads to a reduction in the number of strokes occurred over subjects' lifetime.