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AF develops earlier in men vs. women
Due in part to weight-related risk factors, men are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation at an earlier age than women, according to data published in Circulation.
According to a study published by Christina Magnussen, MD, from the department of general and interventional cardiology at the University Heart Center in Hamburg, Germany, and colleagues, as age and weight increase, the risk for AF greatly increases. However, men are likely to develop AF a decade earlier than women.
“It’s crucial to better understand modifiable risk factors of atrial fibrillation,” Magnussen said in a press release. “If prevention strategies succeed in targeting these risk factors, we expect a noticeable decline in new-onset atrial fibrillation.”
The researchers examined sex differences in AF incidence, its association with mortality, common risk factors, biomarkers, and prevalent CVD, and their attributable risk by sex by conducting a substudy using the BiomarCaRE consortium.
The study included 79,793 patients aged 24 to 97 years who did not have AF at baseline and had a follow-up time of up to 28 years.
The follow-up showed that 4.4% of women and 6.4% of men had been diagnosed with AF.
Researchers found that cumulative incidence increased in men when aged at least 50 years and in women when aged at least 60 years.
Lifetime risk for AF was more than 30% among both men and women, and the risk for mortality was 3.5 times higher among patients with incident AF compared with those without AF.
Using multivariable-adjusted models, Magnussen and colleagues found sex differences for the association of BMI and AF (HR per standard deviation increase in women = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.12-1.23 in women; HR per standard deviation increase in men = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.25-1.38; P for interaction = .001).
There was an inverse association between total cholesterol and incident AF with a greater risk reduction among women (HR per standard deviation in women = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.81-0.9 vs. HR per standard deviation in men = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.97; P for interaction = .023).
The researchers found no differences between men and women for C-reactive protein and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide.
The study shows that population-attributable risk of all risk factors combined was 41.9% in women and 46% in men, with approximately 20% of the risk being BMI.
“We advise weight reduction for both men and women,” Magnussen said in the release. “As elevated body mass index seems to be more detrimental for men, weight control seems to be essential, particularly in overweight and obese men.” – by Dave Quaile
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.