Associations Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Rurality With New Diagnoses of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and causes significant morbidity and mortality. However, U.S. data on socioeconomic status, rurality, and new diagnoses of AF (NDAF) have been limited and/or conflicting.

Retrospective analysis, adult encounters, 2021-2022, at a Midwest U.S. health system. Inclusion criteria intended to identify those likely to seek care at the health system. Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes represented socioeconomic status and rurality, respectively. New diagnoses of AF associations with RUCA and ADI were analyzed separately.

Among 346,104 patients without identified prior AF diagnosis, unadjusted NDAF proportions and most AF risk factor prevalences were significantly greater in the higher ADI and RUCA groups in all analyses. Continuous ADI and RUCA remained significantly associated with NDAF in all adjusted analyses except one RUCA sensitivity analysis.

In this study, patients in more socioeconomically disadvantaged or more rural areas were significantly more likely to have NDAF.