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Diabetes may be independent risk factor for AF
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Patients with diabetes appear to be at greater risk for developing atrial fibrillation, especially those with longer duration of treated diabetes and poor glycemic control.
Results of a population-based, case-control study showed that 17.9% of patients with AF also had pharmacologically treated diabetes compared with 14.1% of people without AF.
To examine the association between diabetes and AF risk, researchers identified 1,410 patients with newly recognized AF in a large, integrated health care delivery system. They compared AF risk, diabetes status, diabetes duration and glycemic control in these patients with 2,203 controls who did not have AF.
According to the results, patients with treated diabetes had an adjusted OR of 1.4 for AF (95% CI, 1.15-1.71) compared with patients without diabetes. Moreover, the risk for developing AF was 3% higher for each additional year of diabetes duration among patients with treated diabetes.
The risk for AF was higher for patients with treated diabetes and poor glycemic control. Risk was greatest in patients with a HbA1c level more than 9% (OR=1.96; 95% CI, 1.22-3.14), followed by 8% to 9% (OR=1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.08), 7% to 8% (OR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.09-2.01), and lowest for 7% or less (OR=1.06; 95% CI, 0.74-1.51).
Future research is needed to identify and test methods to reduce the risk for AF in patients with diabetes, the researchers concluded.
Dublin S. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;doi:10.1007/s11606-010-1340-y.
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