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

Strokes 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).

The 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.

A 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.

A 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.