Burden of atrial fibrillation

ABSTRACT

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia seen in clinical practice and has attracted much attention due to its association with a substantial mortality and morbidity, particularly from stroke, thromboembolism and heart failure. This Editorial Commentary provides a brief overview of the clinical, economic and epidemiological burden of AF, particularly in the context of hospital readmission of patients with AF.

It concludes that further studies on identifying factors and reasons for readmission in AF patients are therefore warranted. Understanding the patterns and factors that are responsible for readmission would help clinicians optimise the treatment strategies for AF patients and in turn improve quality of care and potentially lessen the large burden of AF on healthcare systems.

Key words: :

• Atrial fibrillation
• Burden of illness
• Epidemiology
• Hospital readmissions

Acknowledgement

Declaration of interest: This editorial was independently commissioned by CMRO journal editors and no external funding or contributor fees are associated with it.

G.Y.H.L. has received funding for research, educational symposia, consultancy and lecturing from different manufacturers of drugs used for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. He was Clinical Adviser to the Guideline Development Group writing the United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines on atrial fibrillation management (www.nice.org.uk), and is on the writing committee for the American College of Chest Physicians Guidelines on Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation. C.W.K has no interests of a declarable nature. No funding was received from any pharmaceutical company for the preparation of this article.