Sex differences in early-onset atrial fibrillation in Norwegian primary care: a retrospective national database analysis

• Published in: Open heart 2024-08, Vol.11 (2), p.e002695
• Main Authors: Kalstø, Silje Madeleine, Nygård, Ståle, Ariansen, Inger, Tveit, Arnljot, Christophersen, Ingrid Elisabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age groups; Age of Onset; Atrial Fibrillation; Atrial Fibrillation - diagnosis; Atrial Fibrillation - epidemiology; Cardiac arrhythmia; Codes; Databases, Factual; Datasets; Delivery of Health Care; Emergency medical care; Epidemiology; Female; Gender differences; Global Burden of Disease; Health care delivery, economics and global health care; Hospitals; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Norway - epidemiology; Patients; Prevalence; PRIMARY CARE; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Reimbursement; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sex Distribution; Sex Factors; Womens health; Working hours; Young Adult; Young adults
• ISSN: 2053-3624; 2398-595X; 2053-3624
• DOI: 10.1136/openhrt-2024-002695

BackgroundIndividual variation in the need for healthcare constitutes knowledge gaps for young atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and primary care burden of early-onset AF in Norway, emphasising sex differences, in a nationwide healthcare database.MethodsWe used data from the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursement database to identify all Norwegian residents ≥18 years of age registered with a primary care physician (PCP) in 2019, with onset of AF at ≤50 years of age (early-onset AF) in the period 2006–2019. From the accumulated number of early-onset AF cases among current residents, we calculated the prevalence in 2019. The group-level primary care burden was calculated as the total number of annual AF consultations divided by the annual number of AF patients (2014–2018), and individual burden as the mean number of consultations per AF patient per year within the study period. We analysed the distribution of AF consultations between PCP and primary care emergency room (ER) services in total and by sex.ResultsWe identified 10 925 Norwegian residents with early-onset AF in 2019 (26.3% women, mean age 48.4 years). The prevalence of early-onset AF was 0.34% (women: 0.19%, men: 0.50%). The early-onset AF population had on average one annual primary care consultation for AF. The individual burden of annual AF consultations varied widely;