Atrial fibrillation: the cost of illness in Sweden

To provide an estimate of the annual cost of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Sweden.

Prevalence-based cost analysis of AF in Sweden for 2007. Direct medical (hospitalizations, hospital outpatient care, primary health care, non-pharmacological interventions, pharmaceuticals, and anticoagulation monitoring) and non-medical (transportation associated with health care visits) costs of AF, direct costs of AF complications (stroke and heart failure), and indirect costs (production loss), were included. Data were based on Swedish registries, reports and databases, published literature, and an expert panel.

There were 100,557 individuals with AF as primary or secondary diagnosis that were either hospitalized or treated in hospital outpatient care in 2007. The total cost of AF was estimated at 708 million. The major cost driver was the direct cost of complications (54%), followed by hospitalization due to AF including AF as secondary diagnosis (18%), and production loss (12%).

This is a comprehensive, nation-based cost analysis of AF where relevant data were derived from national registries covering the entire Swedish population. The results showed that the annual cost of AF was high in comparison with other diseases, but likely to be underestimated as a conservative approach was applied in the analysis.