Healio
Healio
May 15, 2009
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AF prevalence significantly lower in blacks, despite higher prevalence of risk

Heart Rhythm Society's 30th Annual Scientific Sessions

Despite a higher prevalence of risk factors for atrial fibrillation, blacks have a markedly lower prevalence of the disease compared with whites.

Kan Fang, MD, and colleagues at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, examined 196,104 adult patients of which 110,333 were white and 65,657 were black; the rest were listed as an undefined or “other” race. All patients had at least two clinical encounters at Henry Ford Health System during 2007.

Blacks showed a high prevalence of risk factors associated with AF compared with whites, specifically hypertension (42% vs. 29%) and diabetes (17% vs. 12%). Despite the significantly higher presence of risk factors among blacks, the researchers reported a 50% lower prevalence of AF compared with whites (1.2% vs. 2.5%). Disease prevalence increased with age.

After the researchers adjusted for gender and age, the logistic regression model demonstrated that blacks had an even lower risk for AF. According to the study abstract, the odds ratio for AF among blacks compared with whites was 0.6 (CI 0.55, 0.65; P<.001).

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