Nine-Year Trends in Atrial Fibrillation Prevalence among Romanian Adult Hypertensives: A Post-Hoc Analysis of SEPHAR II-IV Surveys

Cosmin Cojocaru, Aura-Elena Vîjîiac, Oana Gheorghe-Fronea, Teodora Mohaiu, Lucian Itu and Maria Dorobanțu
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Cosmin Cojocaru: Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
Aura-Elena Vîjîiac: Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
Oana Gheorghe-Fronea: Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
Teodora Mohaiu: Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Lucian Itu: Advanta, Siemens SRL, 500097 Brasov, Romania
Maria Dorobanțu: Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: Objectives: There are limited epidemiological data regarding atrial fibrillation (AF) in hypertensive (HT) Romanian adults. We sought to evaluate AF prevalence trends in the SEPHAR surveys (Study for Evaluation of Prevalence of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk in an Adult Population in Romania) during a nine-year interval (2012–2016–2021). Methods: Three consecutive editions of a national epidemiological survey regarding HT included representative samples of subjects stratified by age, gender and area of residence (SEPHAR II-IV—in total, 5422 subjects, mean age 48.69 ± 16.65 years, 57.5% ( n = 3116) females). A post-hoc analysis of AF prevalence and oral anticoagulation (OAC) rates was performed. AF definition was based on a documented medical history of AF and/or AF documentation by study electrocardiogram. Results: General AF prevalence was 5.5% ( n = 297). AF prevalence in HT subjects was 8.9% ( n = 209) and has risen since SEPHAR II—7.2% ( n = 57) and SEPHAR III—8.1% ( n = 72) to SEPHAR IV—11.8% ( n = 80), respectively ( p = 0.001). AF prevalence has increased in HT males (SEPHAR II—5.3% ( n = 19), SEPHAR III—7.6% ( n = 26) and SEPHAR IV—11.7% ( n = 35) ( p = 0.010)) and in HT from urban areas (SEPHAR II—7.8% ( n = 37), SEPHAR III—7.8% ( n = 40), SEPHAR IV—14.7% ( n = 50), p < 0.001). In SEPHAR III-IV, only 19.3% ( n = 23) of HT AF patients with OAC indication were anticoagulated. Conclusions: AF prevalence has increased by ~64% in hypertensive Romanian adults between 2012 and 2021. However, anticoagulation strategies may be suboptimal in patients with cardioembolic risk.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; prevalence; arterial hypertension; epidemiological study; oral anticoagulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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