Opportunistic Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in the Pharmacies: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Opportunistic screening of atrial fibrillation is a valuable approach to the identification of subjects with unknown or non-symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) with the potential of reducing the burden of ischemic stroke in the population.

To evaluate the feasibility of a large-scale screening for atrial fibrillation using a blood pressure monitor (MicrolifeAFIB) endowed with a validated algorithm able to detect AF calculating the irregularity of interval times between heartbeats.

In this cross-sectional study conducted in 74 pharmacies in Verona participated 3071 people aged 50 years or more. In 6 months, information about drugs, previous diagnoses of cardiovascular diseases, anthropometric and demographic data was recorded, together with the measurement of blood pressure and cardiac rhythm by using the MicrolifeAFIB device. Pharmacists also collected anthropometric and demographic data of the participants, along with information concerning their personal history of cardiovascular disease and the use of antihypertensive and antithrombotic agents. All those who were positive at the screening for atrial fibrillation were referred to their family doctor.

The screening revealed 98 subjects (3.2%) positive for AF; 44 of these reported a previous diagnosis of AF and were treated with anticoagulants (77%) or with antiplatelet agents (7%). By logistic regression analysis, age, male sex and heart failure were independently associated with positivity for AF. Association between positive test and previous stroke/TIA was found in the 54 subjects without a previous diagnosis of AF (9% had a previous stroke/TIA).

Opportunistic screening for atrial fibrillation in the pharmacies is feasible and allows to identify a number of subjects with silent, non-previously diagnosed AF, therefore is potentially useful in large-scale projects aimed at the prevention of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.